Mind Bender
by Lithic
Summary: Ino Yamanaka has always wanted to be a kunoichi. But does she really? What would happen if the world of a kunoichi wasn't as glamorous as she thought? What if it was the opposite? Unforgiving? Cold? The story of Ino coming to terms with loss in a world where survivors are those who either get stronger or end up culled by enemy shinobi. Mature themes. Slow Updates.
1. Chapter 1

Ino Yamanaka jolted awake.

She found herself regarding her room's terraced ceiling in a sullen trance, with its creamy whites and lavender purples, seemingly oblivious to the cacophony next to her ear.

When the 12-year-old girl finally rolled to her side, she squinted at the hands of her alarm clock through the dim light of her room: 7:30 a.m.

She feebly reached out and fumbled with the blaring timepiece before silently declaring it a lost cause and pulling her pillow over her face to block out the insulting din.

 _Just five more minutes_ , the young girl pleaded. _I was having such a wonderful dream about Sasuke-kun. Maybe if I go back to sleep, I can feel the soft sensation of those lips of his against my skin. That sounds so fantastic right about now…_

Five minutes for Ino was actually 20 minutes. The sound of footsteps grew louder and louder as a figure stomped their way up her staircase until Ino heard a familiar voice directly outside her door.

"Ino!" her mother shouted from the other side of the door. "I hope you remember you have to meet your new team at the Academy at 8:00! Don't blame me if you're late!"

Ino pretended to ignore the woman's calls and remained silent. _If I just ignore it, it'll go away,_ she reassured herself.

Ino then heard a sharp knocking. "If you have Sasuke on your team, I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate having a late and irresponsible teammate!"

Ino's eyes bulged at _that_ statement, and in a flurry of sheets, blankets and clothes, the young girl was throwing on her blouse and yanking the door open before her mother had even reached the bottom step.

Ino half ran/half jumped down the stairs and into the family kitchen, where she took a second to regard her parents. Her father, Inoichi, sat at the family dining room table, calm and collected as always, quietly sipping his cup of coffee as he conversed with her mother, who had just eased into her chair across from him when Ino had entered the room.

Her eyes went from the table to the clock that was attached by nail above the doorway lintel: 7:55. She was breezing by her parents on the way out the door before they even realized she was there.

"Honey, what about your breakfast?" she heard her father shout to her, but Ino didn't have the time and simply chose to ignore him.

Had she bothered to turn and gaze back into the dining room, she would've seen her father and mother turn and share a knowing smile with one another.

* * *

Ino made it to class just as the clock hit eight.

Stepping into the clangorous classroom, Ino noted right away that a good quarter of the class hadn't passed the graduation exam. However, besides some out-of-left-field surprises like Naruto, all of the kids of Konoha's major clans seemed to have passed.

While she looked for her friends, Ino took in the room. The classroom desks were rectangular blocks of white oak, arranged in four sets in rows of three, each having space enough for three students. Ino's classmates were sprawled around the desks, some sitting on top, others standing huddled together in groups. A few students turned to regard her when the door slid open, but she heeded them no mind.

Her eyes focused in on her childhood friends Shikamaru Nara and Chouji Akimichi in the back corner of the room, the former slouching down into his seat and staring up at the ceiling with a bored look and the latter stuffing some potato chips into that giant maw he called a mouth. Ino gave a furtive smile at the image before continuing her scan.

A developing situation between Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki grabbed her attention, the former attempting to yank the blonde headed prankster from his seat next to Sasuke.

Ino felt a flash of irritation at the sight. She was having none of it. Sasuke-kun was hers for the keeping, not Forehead Girl's.

"Hey Forehead Girl!" Ino bellowed across the room at a surprised Sakura. "Get away from Sasuke-kun! It's obvious he's not into someone as shallow as you!"

Sakura's expression shifted from surprise to fury in a snap, her eyes narrowing to slits as they zeroed in on Ino at the front of the classroom. "Ha!" she scoffed. "At least I know how to dress properly! Take a good look in the mirror. You look like you just rolled out of bed!"

Ino bristled at the insult, knowing full well she hadn't had time to check her appearance before she had rushed from her home in the morning.

Naruto looked distinctly uncomfortable as the two girls snipped at one another. Sasuke simply turned away from the two girls without a word. The rest of the class watched on with growing amusement.

It wasn't always so. As she and Sakura volleyed insults, she recalled a time when the two were the best of friends. They had always done everything together, playing at each other's houses, trying on their mother's makeup, and spending time hanging out together at their neighborhood playground.

It was during one of those playground sessions, in fact, when she gifted Sakura the red ribbon that the other girl had fallen in love with.

Then Sakura fell in love with Sasuke. And everything changed.

Ino was brought back to their argument when she heard a couple of 'Troublesomes' from Shikamaru while Chouji reached his hand into a new bag of potato chips for the second round of his feeding frenzy.

"Hey, Sakura-chan, maybe you two shouldn't fight right n—" Naruto was interrupted as Sakura grabbed the young blonde's orange jumpsuit.

"Naruto! You idiot! Shut up and stay out of this! Nobody should be listening to you anyways!"

As Sakura relaxed her hold on the young boy, Naruto slipped and fell face forward towards Sasuke, who sat next to him. Sasuke, who had turned his head to check out the commotion, had no time to react as lips from Konoha's resident prankster crashed into his.

The whole class froze. Sakura and Ino froze in the middle of their altercation. Naruto and Sasuke grimaced as they locked lips and both boys looked as if they were going to vomit.

Pandemonium ensued.

Once Ino and Sakura were done with him, Naruto's face was one giant bruise. Both girls then immediately jumped to Sasuke to ask him about his condition, who looked more irritated at the girls' attention than anything else.

At that moment, Iruka Umino walked into the classroom, looked at the situation that had unfolded only moments before, and couldn't help but sigh. "All right class, settle down. I'd appreciate it if everyone took their seats. It's time to assign the Genin teams."

Naruto dejectedly rubbed his sore cheeks in his seat next to Sasuke, and the Uchiha fought to keep the embarrassed flush from showing by inspecting the chalkboard at the front of the classroom.

The class settled as murmurs stirred at the announcement while Sakura conspicuously dragged Naruto from his seat and onto the floor. Naruto grimaced when he landed awkwardly on one of the classroom steps and as he rubbed his lower back, Ino noticed how he shot wounded glances up at Sakura fawning over Sasuke. Naruto deflated a little as he took the seat next to Sakura. Ino, who had conceded to sitting next to Chouji and Shikamaru directly behind the trio, drilled contemptuous glares into the back of Sakura's head.

What Ino didn't realize, however, was the gaze aimed in her direction coming from Iruka-sensei who, from his position at the front of the room, had noted Sakura's treatment of Naruto and the brief flash of concern she herself had furtively directed at the young prankster. When she turned to her sensei, she saw him abruptly look away, an impish smile plastered onto his face.

As Iruka-sensei rattled off the Genin teams, Ino tuned him out. No doubt she would be stuck on Shikamaru and Chouji's team, put together to continue the inexorable tradition of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio that had been ongoing for decades. It still didn't stop the young Yamanaka from dreaming of being on Sasuke's team. She could dream, couldn't she?

"Team 7: Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki," Iruka announced to the class. A collective groan could be heard from Sasuke's admirers that was only drowned out by the triumphant roar coming from Sakura, who was standing from her seat, fist raised and gleaming eyes locked onto the Uchiha next to her.

Ino sighed despairingly at the announcement and found her forehead meeting her knotted desk. _There goes that dream._

"Hell yeah!" a loud voice interrupted Ino's thoughts when she saw Naruto stand from his seat. "With this, this is my first step in becoming Hokage!"

Ino wore a bemused smile, but she heard derisive sniggers from around the classroom, and Sakura pulled the boy down into his seat. "You idiot!" Ino heard Sakura whisper viciously to Naruto. "You're embarrassing Sasuke-kun and me! For once, can you just stop talking?" Ino peeked over at Sasuke, who appeared not to hear the commotion as he stared out the classroom window.

Shikamaru, who still lounged back in his chair and stared at the ceiling, glanced over at Ino with the same bored expression and said, "Did you really want to be on the same team as a guy that not only has a pole up his ass, but also suffers from a superiority complex?" The Nara's lazy side-glance briefly hardened as Ino returned his gaze.

Ino's brows furrowed and she felt her eyes narrow at Shikamaru, but she didn't dispute his claims. "I'm not even going to honor that with a response, Shika, but as a girl, I like who I like. And I like Sasuke Uchiha. So I'd appreciate it if you'd keep your callous remarks to yourself."

Shikamaru mulled on her response for a moment then returned his attention to the ceiling, but as he did, Ino heard an exasperated sigh escape the young man. "Troublesome women… I just don't understand…"

Ino shook her head, but she couldn't stop her lips from curling into a wry smile as she silently chuckled at her friend's attitude.

"Team 10: Chouji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara, and Ino Yamanaka," Ino heard their sensei announce to the class.

Ino heard whispers from their classmates, an annoying buzz like that of a swarm of bees. She did her best to ignore them. "What does that make now? 15 generations?" One classmate asked another.

 _Yes, yes. We get it_ , Ino silently responded.

"No, I heard it's more like 20 generations," another pitched in.

 _Please just shut up._

"How would you know? Your family is all civilian."

"You moron, if you weren't going to listen to me, then why ask me in the first place?!"

"Who're you calling a moron, you shithead?!"

Ino, satisfied, watched while Iruka turned his attention to the group of sniggering boys and bored holes into the back of their heads. When they noticed the looks from the class, they stole glances at Iruka and dipped their faces, pink with embarrassment.

Iruka appeared satisfied before turning to the class and dismissing the students. "Now, if you're all done fooling around, your sensei will arrive and pick you up in 15 minutes."

Ino watched as the Academy instructor scanned the room, noting each of his students before cracking a warm smile. "I want to congratulate each and every one of you for graduating the academy. I know you'll work hard to not only make me proud, but your village as well. Thank you for your hard work and good luck in each of your prospective careers."

The instructor seemed to wait a moment before his departure, however. He paused half a heartbeat and winked at one of the back rows before sliding open the door at the front of the classroom and stepping through. Ino followed the chuunin's gaze down to Naruto in front of her and found the boy beaming brilliantly with a touch of pink on his cheeks as he modestly turned his head.

A warm feeling bloomed in her chest at the boy's expression.

Ino then turned to her best friends and now teammates with a ponderous expression. "So who do you think will be our Jounin sensei?"

Shikamaru simply shrugged. Chouji paused in mid bite. "Hmmm…. I don't know, but whoever they are, they have to be strong, right?"

Ino turned to look at the classroom entrance as Jounin sensei began arriving to pick up their newly formed teams.

One, however, stood out from the rest. The man stood over 6 feet and was leaning against the entryway to the classroom, puffing on a cigarette with an uninterested expression on his face. The man had brown eyes, short spiky hair and a thick beard. He wore the usual flak jacket that most Chuunin and Jounin wore, but he also wore a sash around his waist with the kanji for "fire."

 _I wonder what that sash signifies?_ Ino thought before the Jounin locked eyes with the trio and waved them over.

"Team 10?" The man's deep voice boomed across the emptying classroom as the trio approached him. "I'm your new sensei. Come with me."

The three Genin shared a glance before acquiescing to the request, following the man out onto the academy training grounds.

The man turned to face the trio as a wry smile graced his lips. "I'm Asuma Sarutobi, your new Jounin sensei. Why don't we go and get to know each other better over an early lunch?"

Ino and Shikamaru were indifferent to the request, but Chouji was practically salivating. "Yes, Asuma-sensei! That sounds like a perfect idea!"

Ino rubbed her temples and Shikamaru rolled his eyes. They had to have been thinking the exact same thing. _What have we gotten ourselves into?_

* * *

Ino found herself sitting on a green cushion around a short square table with a charcoal brazier built into the center. A sign hung from the entrance to the restaurant that read: "Yakiniku Q, home of the world famous salted beef tongue!"

Chouji inhaling said beef tongue in the seat cushion next to her snapped Ino's attention away from the front entrance and onto her new teammate. A particularly loud chomp made her grimace, and Ino noticed herself scooting away from the Akimichi.

 _I can never get used to this._

"Hey, Chouji!"

The rotund boy kept gulping down his food and didn't respond.

"Chouji! Helloooo?!"

The Akimichi stopped his feast and turned to Ino. "What is it Ino? Don't bother me. Can't you see I'm busy eating here?"

A flash of irritation hit the girl then, a vein throbbing and stretching over her temple. Shikamaru sucked in a breath. Asuma tittered. "Now, kids, I don't think you should be— "

"WHAT WAS THAT? YOU WANNA SAY THAT AGAIN?!" Imo roared at Chouji. The boy immediately paused his eating frenzy at the eruption, his hands trembling ever so slightly, his eyes turning to saucers and his face taking on a pallid color.

"N-no, Ino, you know I didn't mean anything—"

"YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT!" The Yamanaka shouted. The restaurant stilled as its customers stared at her in bewilderment. If she didn't see the looks, she could feel them on the back of her head, and she blushed a deep magenta at the embarrassment as she attempted to calm herself. Ino took a deep breath before continuing in a gentler voice. "Look, I just wanted you to slow down, Chouji. Practically the entire restaurant could hear you chomping away over here."

Color injected itself into Chouji's face once more, his expression softening to a smile. "Yeah, sorry about that, Ino. I'll slow down."

The two teammates and friends smiled awkwardly at one another before returning to their meal. Shikamaru, on the other hand, released a pent up breath he didn't realize he was holding in. Asuma simply sat back and took note of the outburst, a vacant look on his face.

When Ino turned to regard him, however, she saw him relax his face and he smiled down at the three. She saw Asuma note Chouji, the incessant food mongrel, she, the kunoichi with a terrible temper, and Shikamaru, the Nara with his trademark laziness.

Before she could continue her analysis, however, she saw Shikamaru furtively peering at Asuma as though he were studying him. The lazy expression was gone and a hard glint danced across his eyes, noting everything they could about their new sensei. In a matter of seconds, Shikamaru had returned to his trademark slouch.

"You guys are quite an interesting group," Asuma said, garnering the attention of the three. _But we sure can be scary when we want to be_ , Ino finished.

"I already have an idea of what the three of you are like, but I suppose it would only be fair of me to describe myself a little," the Jounin chuckled. Ino was giving Asuma her undivided attention, and she noticed Chouji and Shikamaru doing the same.

Asuma smiled awkwardly before continuing. "As you know, my name is Asuma Sarutobi, the son of the Sandaime and Jounin of Konohagakure. My hobbies…. Well, I'll keep those to myself, but I will say my life's goal is to continue the Will of Fire and pass it onto the next generation. I also…" Asuma paused and found the Genin peering at him. "I'm also seeking the Sandaime's acknowledgement, but as for what kind of acknowledgement, I think I'll keep that to myself."

The trio turned and looked at one another in surprise. That was the first time any of them had heard there was some sort of friction between the Sandaime and his oldest son. To anyone looking from the outside in, it would appear that everything was cordial with the two. Asuma's declaration obviously dispelled that thought.

Before the three could continue their thoughts, Asuma tossed some money onto the wooden table and stood up. "Since the three of you are future clan heads, I'm sure your folks already tipped you off ahead of time about the _real_ test Genin face from their Jounin sensei, am I right?"

Ino and the two boys nodded.

"How fortunate for you all. The same can't be said for all of your classmates with civilian families."

"What do you mean, sensei?" Ino asked, oblivious to the eye roll coming from Shikamaru next to her.

Asuma appeared genuinely surprised at the question. "You mean you don't know?" When she shook her head, Asuma sighed, a wisp of smoke drifting from his mouth. "Those kids will be going in completely blind, with no idea about the test and unprepared for what is to come. I'll be surprised if even a third of your class will become true genin."

Ino shot her two teammates a wary look, and anxious looks were returned.

Asuma stepped away from the table and sauntered towards the exit. "I want you three to meet me at training ground 10 tomorrow morning at 9," he tossed over his shoulder. He didn't wait for a response, but Ino and the two boys nodded anyways.

"Oh." He paused at the open doorway and turned to regard them. "If not one of you can pass muster, the whole team fails. Just some information you should know." With that, the Jounin casually ducked underneath the entryway and out into the bustling street.

Ino, Chouji and Shikamaru followed shortly after. Unspoken, the three went their separate ways, each heading to their clan's compounds while Ino headed to her family's flower shop.

"You two better not make me fail!" Ino tossed over her shoulder as she walked away from her teammates. Shikamaru muttered a 'Troublesome' while Chouji returned to munching on some potato chips.

But that didn't phase Ino. Knowing the two since they were young children, she knew that when push came to shove, they would always have each other's backs.

With that bit of information stored away in the recesses of her mind, Ino smiled as she jogged to her family's flower shop, ready for the next day's challenges.

* * *

Hiruzen sat in his faded leather chair, his hands laying steepled on top of his gnarled desk. Stacks of parchment rose up on either side of the old man, closing in, suffocating, and making him appear even smaller than he was. On the other side of his desk, an array of some of his best Jounin were lined up in various states of readiness. Some, like Kakashi, simply weren't there.

The Hokage puffed from his pipe and let the smoke waft up and out the window behind him, keeping his growing headache at bay. The absence of the famous Jounin tried his patience at times, but these were the worst. He rubbed his temples.

"Setting aside Kakashi at the moment, how do you think this class of genin stacks up?" When no one spoke up, Hiruzen sighed. "Speak freely. This is important and I must know your honest thoughts on the matter."

"Lousy," a tenor voice spoke from the crowd. Hiruzen watched Jounin sensei Shinzen step forward.

"How so?"

"I can't speak for everyone else's teams, but mine seem woefully unprepared for the duties of being a shinobi."

A murmur of agreements came from many of the other Jounin, but no one else spoke up with a consenting opinion.

"I think mine show promise." Hiruzen's brows rose fractionally when Kurenai stepped forward. "They're rough around the edges, and they argued the whole time we were meeting, but I think the team could be a valuable asset to our surveillance."

"Even with that Hyuuga girl who's afraid of her own shadow?" a pointed question came from a Jounin in the crowd. Kurenai whirled to pin the question bearer with an irritated glare.

"We'll just have to see how capable they are during the test, won't we?" she smiled coyly.

"They seem so unconcerned and so … soft." A comment came from Hiruzen's pride and joy, one of the loves of his life who he just couldn't get along with. Asuma stepped forward. Kurenai looked at him incredulously.

"They're not even genin, Asuma. How are they supposed to be battle-hardened warriors?"

Asuma scratched his cheek as he tried to form the right words. "That's not what I meant. These kids don't have the cloud of war hanging over them like we did when we were their age. It's good they don't have to suffer under it, of course, but there is also a lack of motivation driving the team I saw today. Shikamaru is just as sharp as his father, but completely unmotivated and just coasting by. Chouji has the soft, gentle nature of _his_ father, but also has nothing motivating him to improve himself. And Ino…" Asuma opened and closed his mouth before plunging forward. "Ino reminds me of a bit of a shrew who coasts by just like Shikamaru, doesn't _truly_ understand what this line of work can lead to, and frets over her appearance and reputation as it relates to boys. I know. I've seen it all, more than just today, mind you." Asuma looked like he had swallowed a lemon as he stepped back into the crowd.

Hiruzen took that information in and stared out at the crowd of Jounin. The group didn't voice it, but he could tell from their eyes that they agreed with his son. A frown appeared on his face when he took the sight in. "So that's it, then?" The shinobi flinched at the ice in his voice. "We have a bunch of soft genin candidates and you all just can't work with them?" He stood from his chair and as he did so, the atmosphere became oppressive. "You are _Jounin_. You were promoted to your positions not just because you could throw a metal star really well, but also because you could _think_. Use those heads of yours and find a way to accurately test your teams. Do something different, do what you always do. I don't care. Figure it out." When he saw the cowed looks on the faces of the shinobi, he drew his hand across his face. "I don't have time for this… You're all dismissed."

The Jounin bowed, their faces stone, before they quickly filed out.

"Shinji." Hiruzen's attendant appeared. "Send word to Kakashi with a rundown of the meeting and tell him to not even bother showing up." A nod and the man disappeared.

Hiruzen leaned back in his chair and shut his eyes. _I'm too old for this._


	2. Chapter 2

**Author notes:**

I just wanted to respond to my first two reviews about the direction of this story.

 **Hanmac:** There will be a pairing in this story, but just understand that this isn't the focus of the story. There will be some romance, but it will develop slowly over time. As for Naruko: I'm sorry, but I don't think this story will include her.

 **Narutohatake-uchiha:** Thanks for the valuable feedback. I wanted to use the first chapter to test and see if there was any interest in Ino as a main character. I simply used the first chapter as a set up chapter. You'll find subsequent chapters, including this one, will have more going on. The story will take a darker turn in subsequent chapters, so be prepared for that.

 **For those who favorited:** I appreciate it. Thank you Falcon800, Hanmac, Ryu Vision, Sensuto, csezka, kyuubic, renegadestarforce and sweetlilly90 for being my first follows.

* * *

It was ten minutes until the designated meet time when Ino arrived at Training Ground 10 the next morning.

Surprisingly, both Shikamaru and Chouji were already there and waiting for the young kunoichi to arrive.

"I'm kind of surprised the two of you managed to make it here on time, much less early." Ino smirked as she approached the two boys, giving them a wave.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "This would normally be much too early for me to be up and about, but after I told my parents yesterday about our test… well, let's just say you should've seen my mom this morning when she was trying to wake me up…"

The Nara grimaced. Ino and Chouji shared a look before not so successfully hiding fits of laughter.

As the trio continued waiting for Asuma to arrive, Ino's thoughts couldn't help but drift to the test they were about to face. Her father, Inoichi, had, as Asuma suggested during the team meeting the day earlier, been hinting at a post graduation test for newly instated Genin.

But that was all she was told.

Looking at both of her friends and teammates, it was clear the two were also on edge and uncertain about the upcoming test. Shikamaru was leaning against the base of a nearby tree in his trademark lazy fashion, but Ino had learned years ago that the window to the boy's emotions lay in his eyes. If an outsider analyzed Shikamaru, they might not have been able to see it, but Ino could see the nervous anticipation occasionally flickering across his eyes.

Chouji was more of an open book. If the boy didn't have an open bag of potato chips in his hand, it was usually because he was getting serious about something. In this case, there was no potato chip bag in sight and Chouji appeared to be tense as he looked around for any sign of their assigned Jounin.

There was an unspoken nervousness about the three shinobi that nobody seemed able to break. It was only when Asuma showed up an agonizing 10 minutes later that the tension was dissipated.

"Yo," Asuma said as he casually strolled onto the training ground. Ino and Chouji turned to face the approaching Jounin while Shikamaru pushed himself off the tree to stand next to his friends.

"As you know, I will have you three perform an extra test for me," Asuma said. The Jounin couldn't help but smirk at the gulp he heard coming from both Ino and Chouji. The Genin all looked up at him with expressions of trepidation that Asuma had to say he was enjoying way too much.

His smirk widened to a small smile before he continued. "The test is actually simple. The goal is to simply touch me with your hand. If any of you manage to do this, then the whole team passes and I'll gladly teach you as your sensei. If not one of you is able to do this in the three hour time limit, then the whole team fails and goes back to the Academy."

Asuma pointedly looked at each Genin to ensure they understood the objective. "If you want to even have a hope of catching me, you better come at me with the intent to kill. To make this more fair, I'll stay within the boundaries of Training Ground 10. Those are your instructions. Any questions?"

Ino and Chouji shook their head. Shikamaru looked deep in thought before lazily raising his hand.

"Yes? Shikamaru?"

"We're allowed to use any means at our disposal to tag you, right?"

Wisps of smoke drifted from Asuma's mouth as he looked down at the young Nara. "Yeah, hence the instruction of 'come at me with the intent to kill.'"

Shikamaru looked up at the sky, deep in thought for a moment before the young boy appeared to come to his own private conclusion. His gaze shifted back to Asuma.

Asuma inclined his head at the three. "On the count of three, we begin."

"One…."

All three shinobi pulled out their kunai in a ready position.

"Two…"

Ino's heart began to pump hard in her chest. She tensed.

"Three!"

Asuma vanished in a puff of smoke mere milliseconds after the word 'Three' left his lips. There was no trace of the Jounin.

Ino turned her head left and right, looking for a trace of the Jounin in the surrounding tree line. The young kunoichi threw up her hands in exasperation.

"Oh what the hell?!" Ino shouted in frustration.

Shikamaru grimaced at the girl's shouting and put a finger to his lips. "Shhhhh!" the boy whispered harshly. "Do you want him to hear us?!"

Ino abruptly jerked her head toward the Nara, a tick appearing over her eye. Her two teammates grew apprehensive at the sight.

"Don't shush me, Shika! Unless you can come up with a plan to find a Jounin level shinobi, I don't wanna hear anything from you!"

Shikamaru was about to mutter a 'Troublesome,' but a quick glare from Ino told him, "I dare you to say it." He wisely stayed quiet.

"But don't we already have a general idea of where Asuma-sensei is?" The two shinobi turned to look at their friend and teammate Chouji who was scratching his cheek in thought. The round boy was broken from thinking aloud when he realized the other two were staring at him.

He smiled sheepishly at the two and scratched the back of his head. "I mean, that's right isn't it? We know he can't be too far, so it shouldn't be that difficult to find him."

Shikamaru instantly put on his thinking face at Chouji's declaration. Ino and the Akimichi looked at their friend and smiled: the gears were turning.

"Hey Ino…" Shikamaru began. The girl opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by a snap of Shikamaru's fingers. "Yeah, I think I've got it."

"Shika?" Ino queried.

The Nara dismissed her question with a wave of his hand. "There are two phases of tagging Asuma-sensei. The first I've figured out. It's the second of the two that I'm worried about."

Chouji stepped closer to his friend, his eyes unusually serious and alert. "And how do we find Asuma-sensei in the first place, Shika?"

Shikamaru hummed in response and pointed at Ino. "This is who will find him for us."

Ino gaped at the boy in disbelief. "And how do you expect me to do that when I just graduated from the academy yesterday?"

"You're a sensor type." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah, so what? Everyone in my family is."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes at Ino's cluelessness, a motion the Yamanaka saw and nearly came unglued over. "Look, if you can send a pulse of your chakra out into the surrounding area, we might be able to pinpoint Asuma-sensei's location. Once we do that, then we'll be able to move to the second phase of the plan."

Ino seriously thought about Shikamaru's proposal. It sounded simple, but was it really? It was true as a sensor type, she should technically be able to sense the chakra of others, but it wasn't something taught in the academy nor had her father gotten around to teaching it to her. Still….

Ino raised her right hand with her index and middle fingers held together and pointed at the sky. She shut her eyes as she gathered the chakra in her body into a central location and attempted to "push" it out as Shikamaru suggested.

Nothing happened.

Not one for giving in so easily, Ino tried again, this time envisioning the training ground and surrounding tree line in her mind. As she pushed her chakra outward and away from her body, a mental image of the nearby surrounding area made itself clear. In that mental image, in the tree line to their right, stood a bright white light that stood out from the surrounding foliage.

There he was. Asuma-sensei was _there_.

Before she could point out his location, Shikamaru quickly grabbed her wrist and forced it down. "No. If you point him out now, he'll move and become even more difficult to catch. We have to let him believe we have no clue about his location so he'll let his guard down."

Ino, who had opened her mouth to protest Shikamaru's previous action, quickly closed it and nodded her head in agreement. She saw Chouji do the same out of the corner of her eye.

After Shikamaru released Ino's wrist, the young man looked up at the sky for a few moments before he sighed and returned his attention to his teammates. _Why couldn't he just lay on his back and stare at clouds all day? Life was much simpler that way._

"Okay, now that we have a good idea where Asuma-sensei is, we're only going to have one opportunity to surprise him and really have a chance of tagging him." Ino and Chouji sharply nodded their head in conjunction. Shikamaru lightly chuckled at their focus before continuing. "Okay, so here's the plan…"

* * *

Asuma was crouched behind a tree as he peaked a look at the trio of Genin huddled together in the clearing of the training ground. Unlike before, in which each shinobi was gesturing questioningly at each other, obviously confused and without any sort of idea what was going on, the three now appeared to be coming up with a serious plan. _No doubt thanks to Shikamaru_ , Asuma thought as he once again hid his body from view.

Minutes passed, or was it dozens of minutes? Or could it have been hours? Asuma was unsure, but what he did know was that he heard nothing from the team of Genin. No shouting, no murmuring, no footsteps — nothing.

 _A team with Ino means a loud team, and a team with Ino that isn't loud is suspicious_ , Asuma thought as he took another drag from his cigarette and took another peak around the tree to check out the situation…. only to get a close up of some incoming shuriken bearing down on his position.

Asuma quickly returned to his spot behind the tree and heard the dozen or so projectiles impale the base of the tree with hollow thuds.

"Well that was a little close," Asuma sighed as he released another puff of smoke. However, once he did, he heard a sizzling sound over near his right side. Asuma's eyes widened slightly as he shunshined away from the sound, only to have the area he was in explode in a shower of dirt, leaves and tree bark.

"Hmmm, not bad…." Asuma muttered under his breath when suddenly from out of the dense foliage directly ahead of him, Chouji came barreling out like a huge spinning cannonball.

"Nikudan Sensha no Jutsu!" the boy shouted as he rolled forward at Asuma with blazing speed.

Asuma rolled to the side to avoid the large cannonball like attack only to see Ino intently staring at him with her hands raised in a circular seal.

"Shintensin no Jutsu!" she shouted.

Asuma smiled a little as the attack beamed its way towards him. "Jeez, you kids are serious aren't you? That's good. You'll need to be."

Jumping and flipping over Ino's attack, who was left unconscious on her back for a few moments after the failed attack, Asuma saw a black, needle like line jump from the shadows of the forest canopy towards his position.

"Oh no you don't." Asuma performed multiple backflips and landed in the middle of a clearing where the sun beamed down directly, unimpeded by dense canopy.

A kunai flew out of the foliage towards Asuma at that moment, but the Jounin sensei didn't move an inch as the shinobi tool missed its mark and harmlessly impaled the ground next to him.

Suddenly, he felt his body jerk and become immobile, and Asuma inwardly smiled at what he realized had happened.

 _The shadow the kunai gave off_. _Very clever Shikamaru._

Directly ahead of him found Shikamaru emerging from the foliage, grimacing and struggling to hold the powerful Jounin still.

"Chouji! Go!" the Nara shouted at his friend.

The husky boy huffed and puffed his way towards Asuma, who was shaking as the silent battle between himself and Shikamaru raged on for control of his body.

Shikamaru was panting heavily. Sweat covered his face and his hands shook from the effort of maintaining his family's Kagemane no Jutsu. Judging the distance between Chouji and Asuma made him realize just how close it would be.

"Hurry Chouji! Run faster!" Shikamaru implored the Akimichi.

A moment before Chouji reached Asuma to tag him, Shikamaru's jutsu briefly faded from Asuma's superior strength. However, instead of shunshining away as Shikamaru expected, Asuma simply smiled at the Nara as he was tagged. The brief, unspoken exchange between the two was so short, he was sure nobody else noticed.

"Ha! Got…cha Asuma…sensei!" Chouji heaved between deep breaths. Asuma simply laughed and slapped Chouji on the back, who was leaned over and gasping for breath, nearly knocking the boy over.

"Yeah! See, your plan did work Shikamaru!" Shikamaru jumped a little at the unexpected voice as Ino approached with a curious expression written on her face. _Was she there the whole time?_ Shikamaru mused. _I didn't even see her…._

Asuma looked at the three Genin and smiled proudly. "Because you were able to tag me…" _We wouldn't have if you took it seriously and decided to run away at that last second_ , Shikamaru silently interrupted. "…you all pass and become official members of Team 10. Congratulations."

Chouji and Ino smiled broadly and high fived. Shikamaru smirked and stuffed his hands back into his pockets.

Asuma smiled fondly at the antics of the three before blowing out another puff of smoke. "Hey, it's almost lunch time. Why don't we stop by Yakiniku?"

At the suggestion, smoke blew out of Chouji's nostrils like some sort of possessed bull. "A perfect idea, Sensei!"

Ino and Shikamaru rolled their eyes as they followed the rest of the team back towards town. "Hey Chouji, don't get used to this sort of treatment. I'm not gonna pay for your meals every day you know," Ino heard Asuma tell Chouji, both of whom were walking ahead.

Ino smiled at her sensei and Chouji before turning around to look back at the damage caused by the exploding tag during the test.

A good chunk of the tree trunk was simply gone, and a small crater showed on a patch of ground close to where Asuma had been hiding. The three Genin had agreed ahead of time that an exploding tag might've been the only tool they had dangerous enough to their sensei to get him on the run in the first place.

Thoughts of the exploding tag had Ino once again thinking of the final moments of their test with Asuma. She knew Shikamaru knew that Asuma had gone easy on them. But she knew Shikamaru didn't know that she had seen the whole exchange between the two, especially at the end, when Asuma was given plenty of time to escape after Shikamaru's jutsu briefly faded and before he was tagged by Chouji.

 _Why did he throw the test at the end?_ Ino wondered as she continued staring at the scarred ground. _Were we truly not skilled enough to catch Asuma-sensei when he wasn't even trying to fight back?_

"Hey! Ino!" Ino was pulled from her thoughts by Shikamaru who had walked over to her. "Asuma-sensei and Chouji are waiting for us. You ready to go?"

Ino nodded her head and the two took off to join their friend and new sensei.

* * *

"Dad! Mom! I'm home!" Ino pulled the door open to her family's flower shop and stepped inside.

What awaited her were the scents and fragrances of the many flowers that called the flower shop their temporary home, before many were bought by a customer and taken to their permanent home to be put on display or planted in a garden.

It was always a welcome reprieve from the hustle and bustle of classes at the academy, especially in the last few months when the curriculum focused almost exclusively on live, full contact training.

The last few months of the academy were essentially a compendium of everything the students had learned up to that point, a reason Ino couldn't understand how Naruto had managed to pass. He had always seemed to either not be paying attention or sometimes the boy just wouldn't show up to class.

Not to say she thought the boy was an idiot; she didn't, an opinion not shared by the majority of the class, especially Forehead Girl. Even Shikamaru agreed that the dumb persona Naruto portrayed to so many people was a façade. But while Shikamaru simply dropped the topic of conversation with nary a thought whenever it came up, Ino couldn't help but feel curious.

 _Why put up such an act? What are you so afraid of, Naruto?_

Ino's father was head of the village's Intelligence Division at one point in his shinobi career. His tendency to look underneath the surface, to peel back the layers of a person until he had discovered that person's true nature had rubbed off on her. Especially when it came to Naruto.

The prankster was an enigma of the village who seemed to be hated for more reasons than just his childish antics. But what were those reasons? Anytime the topic came up with her father, it was as though she was walking on eggshells.

Ino was pulled from her thoughts by her mother's footsteps echoing down the stairway. The woman turned the corner and beheld Ino in her disheveled state, no doubt caused by the test she had endured earlier that morning. A thin frown fell across her face.

"Ino! You look awful! Have you looked at yourself in the mirror today?"

Ino let out an unladylike 'Huh?' before gathering her senses and rushing upstairs to check herself out in the mirror. The day had been so busy and she was so lost in thought throughout most of it that Ino completely forgot about her appearance!

And it wasn't pretty.

Most of her outfit, like her short purple vest like blouse, was coated with layers of dirt and her purple skirt showed tears from running through the dense foliage outlying Training Ground 10. When Ino held up her arms and inspected her purple and white elbow warmers, they really were almost unrecognizable and not so white anymore, and even her forehead protector had several large scuffs.

Ino sighed. _And this was just after a simple test?_

Not to mention what Sasuke-kun would've said had he seen her! And Forehead Girl! The embarrassment!

Ino peeled off her layers of clothing and they dropped to the wooden floor below. Beholding her body in the mirror showed Ino the collateral of the test: cuts and bruises covered her skin from the constant up and down throughout the thick bushes and foliage of the forest and a particularly nasty bruise covered her upper back when her unconscious body had fallen after her unsuccessful attack on Asuma-sensei.

Yet another thing to sigh about.

* * *

Dinner with her mother and father was usually an enjoyable experience, except when Ino was tired and sore and just knew her beautiful skin was going to be marred from then on. Ino loudly groaned.

Ino's mother, Izumi, and her father looked at each with a small smile and shrugged. Afterwards, however, Izumi pointed to Ino's plate.

"Dear, do you not like your food?"

The dinner the family was eating consisted of grilled mackerel, meat and potato stew, miso soup and some brown rice. It was prepared no doubt by her mother, Ino thought, as a way for her to recharge after a long, grueling day with Asuma-sensei.

"Ah, sorry mother, but you know I'm on a diet. Everyone knows that Sasuke-kun likes skinny girls." Ino waved dismissively at her mother's concern. A frown made its way across Inoichi's face.

"You know, Ino, the food will help you develop more muscle mass necessary for being a shinobi," her father advised. Ino nearly rolled her eyes readying herself for the lecture she knew was coming.

"I wish you would take this more seriously, Ino," her father continued. "You are now part of a shinobi team, and your teammates are relying on you to be in peak physical shape so you can have their backs. Why I'll tell you when I was still a shinobi…"

Ino tuned her father out, nodding periodically to the occasional question. It wasn't as though she disliked what her father had to say, but this wasn't the first time he got onto this tangent. And when he got going, he kept going. He was long winded like that, no doubt instilling absolute terror into those poor victims who had to be interrogated by the man during his time with the Intelligence Division.

Ino felt a light shake as she was yanked away from her thoughts. "Are you listening to me, Ino?" her father asked with unusually hard eyes, his hand gripped tightly around her wrist.

Wait. Something was different this time.

Her father didn't say anything for the longest time as he looked at Ino. Was it seconds? Minutes? It sure felt like minutes, but Ino couldn't help but shift in her seat at her father's intense gaze. It couldn't have been more than a few seconds, could it?

Instilling absolute terror indeed.

"Ino," her father began, his voice hard and unkind. "Let me ask you: what does it mean to be a shinobi?"

The question caught Ino completely off guard, the young girl opening her mouth to answer but then quickly closing it.

 _To become strong_ , Ino silently answered. But really, why did she want to become strong? Her thoughts first drifted to Sasuke, who she wanted to impress with her strength. But was that really the only reason?

Inoichi seemed to sense his daughter's inability to answer the question. He flashed a brief worried expression over to his wife before returning his attention to Ino.

"This is a question I want you to think about. When you come up with an appropriate answer, you'll be on your way to becoming a truly strong shinobi. You'll have found a reason to fight."

Ino jerked at her father's declaration. She looked him in the eyes with a shocked expression that asked him, "Did you know my answer?" If he did, Inoichi left it alone and returned to his meal, releasing his grasp on Ino's wrist. Ino and her mother did the same, the sounds of plates clinking and food being eaten the only sounds that accompanied the rest of the meal.

* * *

"I'm worried about Ino," Inoichi told his wife as the two were readying themselves for bed.

Izumi sighed and scratched her head at the declaration. "You're referring to the Oath, correct?"

Inoichi looked at his own reflection in the bathroom mirror and found his wife staring at him from her position in their bed, back against the headboard and her legs under the covers. A book lay unopened in her lap. He met her gaze in the mirror and nodded. "This generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho, while having the chemistry expected of our clans, doesn't seem to have the same sense of responsibility and commitment of previous generations. I've spoken with both Chouza and Shikaku over the past several weeks and they're seeing the same with their own children."

Inoichi joined his wife in bed. Izumi scooted over in the couple's bed to allow her husband to crawl into his side. Neither said anything for several moments, Izumi returning to her book, flipping a page and ever so subtly breaking the silence.

Without taking her eyes from her book, Izumi said, "And why didn't you mention this until now?" Inoichi grimaced under his wife's accusatory tone and rolled onto his side to face her.

"All three of us wanted to wait and see if their test with Asuma would instill those feelings. Based on tonight's meal, it seems as though Ino has no clear conviction of this career she has chosen."

"Chosen…. or inherited?" Izumi's voice turned sharp in the face of her husband's gaze. Inoichi's eyes widened at his wife's insinuation.

"You… you don't think I forced this occupation upon Ino, do you? I mean, I gave her opportunities to try other things, don't you think?" Izumi looked over at her husband, a flash of guilt swimming across those blue eyes she had fallen for all those years ago.

Izumi smiled kindly before leaning in and kissing her husband on the forehead, lingering ever so slightly before withdrawing her lips. "I think when the life of shinobi is all someone was exposed to since they were a baby, they feel a sense of obligation to their clan," she said softly as she turned to her nightstand and pulled downwards on the chain to her lamp. Inky blackness filled the room.

"They'll be fine, won't they?" Inoichi's voice asked with a hint of uncertainty.

Moments passed before Izumi's voice softly sighed. "I'm sure each will come into their own before you know it." Izumi felt her husband's body slightly relax next to her.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

* * *

Early the next morning saw Team 10 at the top of the Hokage Tower before the very man himself, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime, the "God of Shinobi."

There was a nervous excitement in the air as Asuma looked down at his three new students, each of which looked ready to go and start a mission, including Shikamaru: an absolute rarity.

But Asuma knew what to expect with a team of Genin's first mission. He felt a stab of pity for the three Genin, but it went away as soon as it came and instead was replaced with feelings of nostalgia and if he were honest, sadistic glee.

Asuma briefly glanced over at his father, Hiruzen, who seemed to be thinking the exact same thing. The two locked eyes and shared a brief smirk at what was to come. Despite their differences, the two could agree on the hilarity of the situation. And as Asuma looked at his father, he couldn't ever understand how the man wore those robes every day. They always looked so damn uncomfortable.

And Hiruzen certainly could understand. The Hokage sat quietly behind his desk as his chuunin filled in the newly formed team of their responsibilities to the village and the importance of the jobs they did for the village economy. He secretly wished he could shed his robes and the paperwork quickly collecting on his desk for something more simple. The old man mentally sighed.

 _I'm getting too old for this_.

He would've passed his title on to his son, Asuma, years ago, but the man didn't want the responsibility and Hiruzen had to admit he hesitated leaving the village in his hands.

It wasn't based on power. Asuma was a strong enough shinobi in his own right. Rather, it was due to his having run away from home several years ago when things in his life got tough, one of those being disagreements between himself and Hiruzen on how a village should operate.

Asuma had run away from his responsibilities then as a newly promoted Jounin to go off and join the Twelve Guardian Ninja, not only an embarrassing action for the Sarutobi clan and Hiruzen himself, but also a hurtful one for a father trying to understand his son. It wasn't the fact that he accepted the invitation to join the group that was embarrassing. Any ninja would feel proud to even receive an invitation. It was the way Asuma had done it; it was done simply to spite Hiruzen.

Of course he had returned to the village after a few years, but things had never really been the same between the two. Hiruzen was pulled from his thoughts by loud yelling from the Yamanaka girl.

 _Ah, it looks like they found out about their first job_ , Hiruzen mused. He kept his face neutral as he watched the three receive the news. The Nara slouched even further than before and muttered the word 'Troublesome,' the Akimichi had stopped eating his chips mid bite and the Yamanaka girl….well, she was downright ferocious.

"I can't believe this!" Ino fumed. "This is a job for a child, not a trained shinobi!"

Asuma put his hands up in a placating gesture at the girl's exclamations. "Now, now, Ino, every Genin team has to start doing missions like this first. We can do more difficult missions only after you guys get more experience."

Ino huffed at her sensei's explanation and turned away. The team was assigned a D-rank mission to go pull some weeds from an old woman's garden. Not exactly fun or adventurous.

Hiruzen silently observed the team before coughing into his hand to clear his throat. The three Genin turned to face the Hokage with respect and a little defiance in their eyes at having received such a mission.

"Despite your feelings on the mission, it is important for building rapport with your teammates and sensei. Also, as you gain experience from these missions, the lessons you should learn from them will help guide your path to becoming a strong shinobi. I'll leave the discovery of those lessons up to you to find out. Any questions?"

The three Genin shook their heads, albeit reluctantly.

Hiruzen let out a satisfied grunt. "Good, then you're dismissed."

As the Genin were approaching the door to the Hokage's office, they heard the old man rise from his chair. "Oh yes, I nearly forgot."

The three turned to face the Hokage with a questioning expression on each of their faces. Hiruzen chuckled. "After you complete this mission, your families wanted me to inform you three that they have something important to give each of you, so hurry on back here once you're done."

The team nodded and stepped out of the office. Once the three had left the Hokage's presence, Ino let out an exasperated groan.

"What a boring job!" she said aloud, throwing her hands up in a way that said, "I just don't know anymore!"

Shikamaru shuffled alongside his fuming teammate with his hands stuffed in his pockets. He glanced over at her. "It's troublesome, no doubt, but we have to start somewhere, don't we? Better this then say chase some stupid cat around town, wouldn't you agree?"

Asuma covered his mouth with his hand to prevent his chuckle from being heard. _Oh, Shikamaru, you have no idea…_

Chouji seemed unconcerned with the team's new mission, but when he spoke up, Ino and Shikamaru knew exactly why.

"I don't really mind," the Akimichi began, pulling a bag of chips from his waist pouch. "Just so long as we get snack breaks."

The husky boy's teammates and sensei sweatdropped at the declaration as the team arrived at the old woman's house.

What awaited them there wasn't so much a garden as it was a forest of weeds. Ino's gaze started at the base of one particular weed and traveled up further and further until it stood as tall as Asuma-sensei. She facepalmed.

"Can't catch a break can we?" she groaned the obvious question as her teammates stood beside her with looks of trepidation plastered on their faces.

* * *

The process was slow going for the three Genin, but after a few hours of pulling and cutting and more than a few complaints from Ino, the work was completed.

Each of them was covered in dirt, sweaty and they looked wiped. Ino rubbed her sore arms, no doubt a result of all the pulling she had to do. She sighed in relief at finally being done.

As the team collected the signature of the old woman whose garden they helped clear, the woman waved Asuma over and away from the ears of his students.

"Shinobi-san, is that the current generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho?" the old woman whispered. Asuma smiled and nodded in response.

The woman smiled nostalgically. "Is that so…. It seems only yesterday their parents were here helping me with my garden. My how time flies…"

Asuma politely inclined his head towards the woman. "They might no look like much ma'am, but they'll grow up to be as strong as their parents, I assure you."

The woman's kind eyes hardened for a moment as they looked at Asuma. "I would hope so. After all, it's your responsibility to see to it that they do grow up."

Asuma was momentarily surprised at the woman's sharp tone, but he recovered quickly. "I will do my best, ma'am," he leveled seriously. The old woman accepted his answer with a quick nod and her eyes softened once more.

As the team was leaving the front yard, Asuma heard a voice on his back. "Best of luck to you and your team, shinobi-san." The sensei lazily waved a hand over his shoulder in response.

Ino gave a questioning look towards her sensei. "What was that all about Asuma-sensei?"

The Sarutobi dismissively waved her question away. "Oh nothing, just an old woman reminiscing. Now come on, the Hokage is waiting for us."

* * *

Team 10 stood before the Hokage in his office as Asuma handed the signed scroll to the Chuunin on duty. Hiruzen smiled briefly at the three dirty faces that were looking up at him.

"Congratulations on completing your first mission as a team." The team respectfully inclined their heads. "With the completion of this mission, you are now considered official Genin in each of your clan's houses. Because of this, I would like you to immediately report to the memorial your families share. Your clan heads will meet you there."

The three once again inclined their heads, understanding flashing across their faces. "You are dismissed," the Hokage commanded.

Several minutes later found Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji on the Sarutobi clan grounds. Before them stood their fathers, the current clan heads, alongside various members of each clan.

The stone of the Yamanaka, Nara and Akimichi Clan Memorial stood in stark contrast to the vegetation that surrounded it. Three clan symbols were engraved into the stone, a symbol of the bond the three clans had shared for multiple generations, the idea that even nature itself couldn't break the bond the families shared.

It was located on the Sarutobi Clan Grounds to avoid favoring any of the three clans. Also, the Sarutobi clan had been heavily involved with the three families since they had joined the village generations ago. The memorial was a reminder to all four clans of the bond they shared and the promise each had of protecting Konoha from its enemies.

The atmosphere around the memorial was unusually solemn to the three Genin, who were used to their clans laughing and getting along well whenever they interacted. Their fathers beckoned the three to step forward.

"Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara and Chouji Akimichi," Shikaku Nara began. The three respondents straightened instantly.

"Now that you three are full fledged Genin, the time has come to take your Oath," Chouza said, taking over for Shikaku. "As clan heads and fathers, we can't help but feel nervous about having you take such a serious oath, especially when we may have our own reservations."

Ino glanced over at her father who was looking at Chouza, his face neutral at the announcement.

"Despite this, we still feel you are deserving. If you would, would you please hold out your right hand with your palm outstretched?"

The three obliged.

The three clan heads approached their children with solemn expressions and held their own clenched hands over the outstretched palms.

Inoichi began by looking at his daughter. "Do you, Ino Yamanaka, accept the responsibility that is required of your station by working together to the best of your ability with Shikamaru Nara and Chouji Akimichi of Team 10 under Asuma Sarutobi?"

Ino nodded her head. "I do accept the responsibility."

Inoichi continued. "And do you, Ino Yamanaka, accept the responsibility that is required of your station in protecting the lives of your teammates Shikamaru Nara and Chouji Akimichi of Team 10 under Asuma Sarutobi?"

Ino said she would.

"And lastly, Ino Yamanaka, do you accept the responsibility that is required of your station in protecting the lives here in Konoha who are unable to protect themselves from the forces outside our borders who would seek to do them harm?"

Ino did.

"With that, Ino Yamanaka has taken the Oath. Please accept these earrings and wear them always so that you never forget your oath. Wear them so that they may whisper to you the Oath you have taken." Inoichi opened his hand and dropped a pair of silver earrings into Ino's outstretched palm. The metal was cold on her sensitive skin as Ino pondered the oath she had taken.

Shikamaru and Chouji performed the same Oath, but Ino couldn't help but feel apprehensive at the oaths she had made. As members from all of the clans smiled and clapped the backs of she and her teammates, it was muted in Ino's mind. The cold, hard metal of the earrings was a cold zap to reality.

Looking at her teammates get congratulated made a question form in Ino's mind.

 _Are we truly ready for this?_

* * *

 **Author notes:**

Jutsu list:

Nikudan Sensha no Jutsu: Human Bullet Tank Technique

Shintensin no Jutsu: Mind Body Switch Technique

Kagemane no Jutsu: Shadow Imitation Technique


	3. Chapter 3

Author Note: Thanks to everybody for the reviews, favorites, and follows. I do appreciate it. This chapter was the final set up to an arc dedicated to the team's first C-rank mission. Just an FYI, but the next chapter might take a little longer to write with what I have in store. The good news is that the extra wait means a longer chapter. Look forward to it.

As for training and such for the characters: Don't worry. I didn't forget about it.

* * *

"Hey, you got her?" Ino whispered into the microphone.

The young kunoichi heard no response from the other end. Ino's mouth drew into a thin line. "Shikamaru!" she whispered harshly.

Ino heard crackling from the other end before a lazy drawl spoke up. "I heard you the first time, Ino. The target is approaching my position over by Training Ground 7."

Not for the first time this mission, Ino sighed in exasperation. "Chouji, you hear that? Meet us over there as soon as you can." The Yamanaka heard the boy answer in the affirmative before she took off as fast she could toward the training ground.

She could sense Shikamaru's chakra before she saw him as Ino crouched down next to the boy, who had hidden in a bush with a vantage point on the target — Tora the cat.

The damn cat had had the three Genin chasing after it for the last hour, but Ino was determined not to let the animal get away this time.

Loud stomping accompanied Chouji's approach, the boy trudging through the foliage towards Ino and Shikamaru with as much subtlety as a person blowing into a horn that said, 'Hey, I'm here!' every single time they took a step.

The Yamanaka and Nara shushed the husky boy, who had the decency to look sheepish at his stealth skills — or lack thereof.

The three heard the speakers in their headsets crackle as Asuma's voice spoke up. "Good. Here's your chance to finally catch the cat. Remember, always have a contingency plan in place in case your first effort proves unsuccessful."

The three nodded before Shikamaru began outlining his plan to his two teammates. It was a very simple plan: flash bomb followed by Shikamaru's Kagemane no Jutsu followed by Ino's Shintensin no Jutsu. Shikamaru had gathered a couple of his family's low powered flash bombs for the occasion after the team had found out about their mission.

Problems had arisen when the cat wouldn't let the team set up. She seemed able to sense their approach at every turn and would dart in and out of busy city streets.

But not this time.

Chouji was to throw the flash bomb, which he had wrapped around a kunai. Chouji was tasked with backup if Shikamaru and Ino were unable to catch the cat.

Shikamaru stood crouched next to his teammates. The two looked to him, waiting for the cue. The Nara put his hands in the 'Rat' hand seal and inclined his head.

 _Begin._

Chouji flung the kunai from the team's hiding place in the bush towards Tora, the cat reacting instantly. However, even with quick reflexes, she was still too slow. With a quick 'Snake' hand seal, Chouji detonated the flash bomb, temporarily blinding the cat and momentarily exposing the shadows in the area.

Shikamaru furrowed his brow. "Kagemane no Jutsu!" The jutsu grabbed hold of the cat momentarily.

Ino was given enough time to beam her Shintensin no Jutsu at the cat and she did so, transplanting her consciousness into the tiny body of the ribbon clad feline.

It was all over in a few seconds.

Ino glanced at the ground below her, suddenly much closer than it was before. Her nose and ears were much sharper than before as she could hear the distant chatter of the villagers buying and selling their goods in the town square.

Glancing over at her teammates' position, she found her own body unconscious and being held by Asuma, who had arrived the moment she had taken over Tora's body. He gave her a thumbs up and a quick smile before motioning her over.

Ino's body felt oddly light and graceful as she pranced forward and jumped into Chouji's waiting arms. With a quick mental 'Release' in her mind, Ino found herself waking to a spectacle of clawing and scratching as Tora attempted to wiggle herself from Chouji's firm grip.

The team smiled at one another. Or at least Asuma, Chouji and Ino smiled. Shikamaru's features morphed into the usual smirk-half-smile he loved to do.

"Mission accomplished, although a little overkill for a cat," Asuma declared. "Anyways, let's get this cat turned in so we can take a break. What do you say?" The Jounin surveyed his students, all of who looked tired and more than a little irritated at having to chase a cat around town.

The three Genin wearily nodded their heads and began the short trek back to the Hokage Tower, one unhappy feline in tow.

* * *

"Believe it or not, this cat has actually been improving its evasion skills ever since she first escaped," Hiruzen told the Genin team, pointedly ignoring the cooing coming from the woman next to him.

Team 10 wasn't as capable of ignoring the woman, Madam Shijimi, the Fire Daimyo's wife, who appeared to be hugging the life right out of the cat.

"Why aren't you just the cutest thing!" the woman cooed, completely unaware of the cat's discomfort.

Ino had half the feeling that they should've just let the cat go. She knew if she were in the cat's position, she'd also be trying to escape the clutches of the large woman in a heartbeat. The expressions on her teammates' faces revealed that Ino wasn't the only one with that thought.

 _Poor cat_ , the three simultaneously thought.

The woman only stopped her torture of the cat to sign the mission scroll before waddling out of the Hokage's office with Tora squirming in hand.

"Now, Mrs. Tora, I think it's time for a bath!" the occupants of the office heard the woman's booming voice out in the hallway. "You look and smell absolutely filthy!"

The cat responded with a hiss that sounded half exasperated and half desperate, the last sound the team heard before the door to the office was shut.

Hiruzen coughed into his fist and the three Genin turned to face the Hokage, completely unaware at how distracted they had been.

"Good job, Team 10. Tora can prove tricky to catch for an inexperienced team," Hiruzen began, before his eyes gleamed with an unknown spark of mischief. "I mean, just the other day it took Team 7 over four hours to catch her," Hiruzen revealed nonchalantly.

Ino was in shock as Shikamaru and Chouji just laughed.

"You mean Sasuke-kun wasn't able to catch Tora all by himself?" the Yamanka queried in disbelief.

Hiruzen shook his head, a wry smile gracing his lips. "No, in fact it took the team all those hours just to start working together."

Ino scowled. _It was probably Forehead Girl's fault_ , she thought. There was no other way Sasuke-kun would've taken so long to catch the cat.

The Yamanaka nodded her head in satisfaction. Yes. That was the only possible conclusion.

Hiruzen carefully watched Ino's reaction with a blank expression before abruptly rising from his chair. The team snapped to attention.

"The team is dismissed. Return tomorrow to receive your next D-rank mission."

Ino internally groaned at the Hokage's command, but didn't dare express her thoughts on the matter. The Genin inclined their heads and stepped out of the office.

As he was leaving the office, Asuma smirked at his father's antics. The two's eyes met briefly and Asuma's head bobbed ever so slightly in understanding at what his father had done.

After the team had left, Hiruzen lowered himself into his chair with a tired huff and filled his pipe with more tobacco. After a long drag, smoke drifted from the old man's mouth and out of the open window directly behind him and into the bustling village beyond.

 _Not quite ready yet_ , the Hokage thought as he recalled the young Yamanaka's reaction to his declaration of Team 7's performance.

 _Not quite ready yet for their first C-rank_ , Hiruzen repeated, the old man leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes. Sounds of the villagers going about their business drifted into the office and for the first time that day, Hiruzen felt himself relax. A tranquil smile lifted the Hokage's features and for the Anbu stationed in the old shinobi's office, it appeared as though he were 10 years younger.

Hiruzen sighed contentedly to himself. _Not quite ready yet, but they soon will be._

* * *

Team 10 was frustrated to say the least. Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji had been doing D-rank missions for two months now and there was no word yet from the Hokage as to when they would get their first C-rank.

Ino angrily grunted and sent a small rock careening into a nearby alleyway with a short kick.

"Hey now, don't go blaming the Hokage for not giving us a C-rank yet," Asuma admonished the young Yamanaka, who seemed to become even more irritated at her sensei's lecture. The girl then whipped her head up at her Jounin sensei with a questioning look.

 _Why?_ it asked.

"Don't look at me like that, Ino." Asuma pointedly looked away, unable to bear the puppy dog eyed expression from the blonde. The Jounin couldn't resist the expression for long, however, and he relented. "It's obvious he thinks you lack the experience."

"But you think we're ready, don't you Sensei?" Asuma heard the question not from Ino, but rather Chouji, who was quickly putting away another bag of potato chips. Out of the corner of his eye, Asuma also saw Shikamaru eyeing the Jounin curiously.

The Sarutobi sighed. "Look, just show the old man that you've grown as a team and I'm sure he'll give you a C-rank in no time."

The Genin eyed Asuma dubiously, but appeared satisfied at the answer.

Before he could ask his team for a team lunch at Yakiniku Q's, Asuma saw a flash of black, unkempt hair and a pair of ferocious red eyes making their way towards he and his team, occasionally interrupted by the throngs of people in the busy street.

Asuma's heart throbbed momentarily, and a slight blush crept up his face. Without looking at his team, Asuma spoke up. "Hey guys, I'm gonna have to take a rain check on that team lunch today."

Ino opened her mouth in protest. "But Sen—" she began, before following the man's gaze. Ino's face morphed into a devilish grin at the Kurenai Yuhi sighting, one that was mirrored by her teammates.

As Asuma stumbled forward toward the kunoichi, Ino muttered mischievously, "Have fun with Kurenai-sensei…"

The man spun around with a dark blush on his cheeks. "How…how did you know that?!" the man sputtered out before waving his arms at the Genin to prevent them from answering. "Actually…never mind. Just…just meet me outside the Hokage's office at the usual time tomorrow morning."

And with that, the man casually strolled toward the direction of the slender woman. The three Genin shared a mischievous look before Ino shouted, "Say hi to Kurenai-sensei for us!" The man flinched at the young girl's teasing, but didn't react otherwise, a new spring to his step as he started weaving in and out of traffic.

"So, where to?" Ino's attention was pulled to Shikamaru, who was aiming the question at she and Chouji.

"Yakiniku Q!" Chouji shouted. Shikamaru and Ino grimaced.

"No way, Chouji," Shikamaru told the Akimichi. "We go there all the time. How about something different?"

Chouji pondered the question mid bite into his next chip. "Okay, then where?"

Shikamaru thought for a moment and began scanning the area for other food options. A ramen stand caught his attention. The Nara pointed at the banner hanging above the stand. "How about there? Ichiraku Ramen?"

Chouji shrugged at the suggestion which said, "Sure, why not?" Ino audibly sighed at the choice.

 _Great. More fattening food_ , the girl thought as the team stepped inside the stand, pushing through the flaps that separated the inside from the out.

 _If Sasuke-kun could see me now_ , Ino continued on her train of thought, before the sight in front of her stopped the young girl dead in her tracks.

It was Team 7. But more specifically for Ino, Sasuke was here.

* * *

Team 7 appeared equally surprised. Well, that is to say Sakara and Naruto looked surprised.

Sasuke's expression quickly turned from surprise to annoyance when he looked at Ino, something both Chouji and Shikamaru didn't miss, but Ino, in her devotion to the Uchiha, didn't seem to notice.

Naruto sat at his stool looking at Team 10 with his mouth open and full of ramen. Sakura turned from the new team to look at Naruto before smacking him over the head. "Naruto, you idiot! Don't chew with your mouth open!"

Naruto rubbed his head and grimaced at the pain at the back of his head before slurping down the noodles. "Sorry, Sakura-chan. I just got distracted for a bit." The pinkette appeared satisfied at the answer before turning her fury onto Ino, her eyes narrowing into slits.

"And what are YOU doing here, Ino-Pig?" her voice was seeped in venom.

It didn't seem to affect Ino or Team 10, who sat on the stools and made their orders without even answering the girl's question.

Only after hearing the reply from Teuchi of 'You got it' did Ino turn to Sakura. "We were hungry and wanted a change of scenery. What's the problem?"

Sakura pointed accusingly at Ino. "You knew Sasuke-kun was going to be here so you showed up to try and get closer to him! Don't act like you weren't!"

Shikamaru, who had taken the seat farthest from the screaming girl, had plugged his ears with his fingers and looked to be getting annoyed. Before the girl could start up again, he put his hands up in a placating gesture. "Look, Sakura-san, it was actually my idea. It was close, we wanted to go someplace else and the food smelled good. Meeting you here was only a coincidence, okay?" the boy said, no doubt exasperated at this point.

Sakura seemed to accept the answer, albeit reluctantly, before returning to her meal. Naruto, who had started in on his fifth bowl of ramen, was slurping down the noodles with gusto, and Ino couldn't help but notice the blonde boy out of the corner of her eye due to their proximity to one another.

Sasuke was seated in the right most stool, followed by Sakura to his left, then Naruto to her left. Ino was to the left of Naruto, as close as she could get to Sasuke, and Chouji and Shikamaru were to the left of Ino.

"Hey, Naruto."

The boy stopped slurping momentarily to look over at Ino, ramen once again hanging from his mouth, a curious expression painted on his face.

Ino rolled her eyes at the boy before smacking him on the back. Hard. "You idiot. Finish your ramen first." The boy's eyes bulged momentarily as he gagged on the noodles and struggled to slurp the rest of the noodles down."

Naruto coughed in fits while pointing accusingly at Ino. "You could've killed me! I nearly choked to death!"

Ino raised her hands in a 'I surrender' gesture, her eyes darting left and right in a mock imitation of someone who looked guilty. "Yup, you got me, Naruto. That's exactly what I was trying to do. I feel terrible about it. Really."

Naruto squinted suspiciously at the Yamanaka girl for a moment before asking, "You playing me?"

As Ino received her bowl of Ramen, she had to hold in fits of laughter at Naruto's seriousness. "I would never do such a thing," she managed in a fake admonished voice.

Naruto's face clicked with understanding at the girl's sarcasm. "Mhmm, just like Sakura-chan would never hit me," he muttered under his breath. Ino's eyes widened before a fit of genuine laughter escaped her.

Sakura looked _pissed_ at the comment, which amused Ino even more.

"Oh Na-ru-to," Sakura annunciated with a sense of foreboding.

The young boy grimaced and slowly turned his head to face the kunoichi. "Y-yes, Sakura-chan?" he stammered out.

A moment later, a scream followed by a loud crash could be heard inside the ramen stand by villagers who were passing by on their way home from work.

* * *

"Have you guys gotten a C-rank mission yet?" Sasuke directed the question at Ino.

The Yamanaka was surprised by the query and blushed as she attempted to sputter out an answer. Shikamaru, seeing this, cleared his throat and directed the Uchiha's attention his way.

"No, although I think the Hokage has been thinking of doing so for some time now. And you?" Shikamaru gestured vaguely at Team 7.

Naruto turned his attention away from the Nara as his eyes fell downwards, a crestfallen expression turning his former smile upside down. Ino's blush over Sasuke vanished as quickly as it came when she took in the blonde boy's change in demeanor.

"Same here," Sakura chimed in. "I believe the Hokage said…" the girl paused as she straightened herself and cleared her throat. "You have a lot of talent, but you need to grow as a team and learn more from one another before I'll allow you to take on a C-rank," Sakura recited from memory with the same tone as the Hokage. The pink haired girl shot a look at Naruto as if blaming him for their lack of team chemistry. Naruto seemed to sink even lower.

A flash of fury hit Ino at the display, but went away as soon as it came. The Yamanaka instead acted as though she were impressed with Sakura's imitation.

"Hmmm, not bad, Forehead Girl," Ino began, noticing the pinkette eye her suspiciously. "If you were half as good at being a kunoichi as you were at imitating the Hokage, you might actually impress somebody," Ino finished, a dark glint flickering across her eyes.

Sakura's eyes widened before her mouth curled into a snarl. "Says the girl who can't even speak to Sasuke-kun properly…"

Sparks once again flew between the two girls. Sasuke looked indifferent to the dispute. Naruto looked uncomfortable. Shikamaru pointedly looked away and muttered under his breath while Chouji didn't seem to hear anything, too engrossed he was in his food. Teuchi, the ramen stand owner, just stood back and smiled amusedly at the situation.

"It seems that both of our teams need more experience before Hokage-jiji will give out a C-rank mission," Naruto began in an unusually serious manner. The other occupants of the room blanched at Naruto's liberal use of the word 'Jiji' to describe one of the most powerful shinobi to have ever lived.

"I guess what it comes down to then is that we'll just have to work hard and prove to him we _are_ ready, dattebayo!" Naruto finished in his typical trademark fashion.

Ino had stopped glaring at Sakura and turned her attention to Naruto when he had begun speaking. The Yamanaka smiled softly and began quickly ruffling the boy's hair, earning some muffled protests.

"Yeah, Naruto, I think you're right."

* * *

The window covers were drawn tight and the only sounds that could be heard in the small apartment were short grunts and soft moans.

It was late at night, and the inky blackness of the apartment was only pierced by a ray of moonlight that had managed to break through a parting in the window's curtains.

The audible sounds ceased abruptly, followed by heavy panting as the two shinobi stared at one another.

"A little repressed there, Asuma?" Kurenai teased the Sarutobi.

Asuma smirked at the kunoichi sprawled in bed next to him. "Maybe a little. Having to deal with Genin children all day can do that to a guy, you know."

The Sarutobi traced an invisible line with his finger across Kurenai's arm as he spoke. Kurenai shivered as goose bumps sprang up across her pale skin. The kunoichi gently took Asuma's hand and intertwined their fingers together.

"Don't I know it," she said. "My team just doesn't seem to get along well at all, especially the Aburame and Inuzuka boys who fight every chance they get."

Asuma chuckled at the woman's admission. He could only imagine. It had taken the boys' parents years to get along well with one another. Why would this case be any different? "Have you tried ironing those problems out through team exercises?" Asuma released Kurenai's hand and laid back with his hands locked underneath his head as he closed his eyes. He felt the kunoichi lay her head on his chest.

"I'm trying everything I can to get the team working together, but nothing works!" Kurenai whispered furiously. "And the Hyuuga girl… She's too timid to step between the two boys when they fight."

Asuma could feel Kurenai tensed against him and he knew the young woman was simply very frustrated at having made little progress with her team.

"Hey Kurenai," Asuma began. The woman's relaxed a little. "Just give it some time. There's only so much you can do right now. They'll have to realize it themselves before they begin to work together, after all."

Kurenai scoffed before shifting her gaze up to level Asuma with a look. "Easy for you to say," the woman teased. "You have a team that's gotten along since the very beginning. I'm honestly a little surprised you haven't been given a C-rank yet." Her voice had started teasingly, but ended with a touch of curiosity.

"Dad doesn't think they're ready yet."

"But you think they are." It wasn't a question.

Asuma sighed and turned his gaze down to the pair of red eyes peering up at him. "I think they have an impressive amount of teamwork for such a young team," Asuma said, sidestepping the question.

"Then it comes down to more experience."

"Yeah, that's pretty much it."

Kurenai giggled at Asuma's expression: so serious and thoughtful and so unlike his normal self.

"You really care about them, don't you?" Kurenai teased the Sarutobi.

Asuma pointedly broke eye contact and avoided her gaze.

* * *

Ino pounded the last nail into the wooden board as Shikamaru held the slab of wood in place. Wiping beads of sweat from her forehead, Ino smiled and gave out a sigh of relief.

"We're done! Thank goodness!" the Yamanka exclaimed, giving Shikamaru and Chouji a thumbs up. The team had been assigned to repair a wooden fence that had fallen into such a state of disrepair the three of them had agreed to just replace the entire thing. It took longer to repair, but the homeowner, a middle aged merchant in town, had wholeheartedly agreed to the revised proposition.

Asuma smiled at the trio and tried to take another drag from his cigarette before he realized it was out of his mouth, on the ground, and underneath Ino's foot, who was grinding it into the ground. The girl put her hands on her hips.

"Sensei, you've really gotta drop that habit," Ino began, transitioning into her lecture tone. "Smoking isn't good for someone who's a shinobi you know."

Asuma looked away from the young kunoichi and grumbled about 'annoying brats' and 'people who should mind their own business' while he wandered over to their client to have the mission scroll signed.

With the scroll signed from a more than happy client, Team 10 found itself in the Hokage tower standing at attention before Hiruzen Sarutobi, who appeared satisfied at the team's success.

As the old man silently scanned the mission scroll, his eyes widened slightly at the note of commendation from the client. _For going above and beyond what was requested, I wholeheartedly recommend Team 10 for any future jobs_ , Hiruzen read. His eyes moved from the parchment to the team waiting patiently in front of his desk.

Each Genin was unique, that was for sure, but they seemed to have matured since he last considered giving them a C-rank. The Yamanaka especially. She didn't squirm impatiently while waiting for his comments as she did before nor did she silently glare at her teammates for their unique behaviors, such as the Nara's trademark slouch and the Akimichi's insatiable appetite.

Hiruzen smirked. He rolled up the scroll and handed it over to his Chuunin on duty before turning his attention once more to the Genin team.

"Congratulations on a job well done, Team 10," he began, steepling his fingers. "Your client was very pleased, so much so, in fact, that he wrote a note of commendation on your behalf."

The team was surprised, but its members managed to mask it fairly well, just not well enough for Hiruzen's eyes. A mischievous look briefly showed on the old man's face before he appeared to relax in the presence of the Genin.

"Yes, you've done very well since you received those earrings. In fact, I would go so far as to say that your team has outperformed any of your peers in the past few weeks," Hiruzen said nonchalantly, gauging the reaction of the Genin. "Team 7, especially. I mean just the other day it took them three hours to deliver a simple letter. Team infighting, from what I understand."

Hiruzen hid his expression behind his steepled fingers, but his eyes were sharp in taking in the Genins' reactions to his statements. The Yamanaka appeared to silently giggle at the announcement of Team 7's shortcomings. The Akimichi didn't appear to act sheepishly as was normally the case in the past and the Nara's eyes were sharply analyzing the Hokage.

 _Oh ho_ , Hiruzen thought. _Looks like they really have matured a little_. The Hokage separated his steepled fingers and smiled at the trio. Not a smirk, but a legitimate smile, Asuma noted.

"Shinji-kun," the Hokage aimed in the direction of the Chuunin on duty. The young man spun around to look at the old man sitting behind him. Hiruzen made a vague motion with his hand to the Chunnin that appeared to say, _Go ahead_ , but the three Genin couldn't understand it. Shinji did, however, and he grabbed a red ribbon mission scroll as opposed to the blue ribbon scrolls used for D-rank missions. The Chuunin handed it to the Hokage.

Hiruzen cleared his throat. "Because you have performed well on your D-rank missions and because you have shown the ability to grow and mature as a team, I am assigning you your first C-rank mission."

The team of Genin turned to one another and broadly smiled before returning their attention back to the Hokage.

"Your mission is to escort a merchant back to his hometown close to the northern border of the Land of Fire. The man, Hatsuki, traded goods here in the village and is returning to his home to sell much needed wares to the villagers there. Your job will be to guard Hatsuki and prevent any harm from befalling him. You leave tomorrow morning at 7, so spend the rest of the day today preparing two weeks of supplies for the journey and meet your client at the front gates at that time."

The Hokage looked at each of the Genin for any signs of confusion. "Any questions?"

The three shook their heads.

"Good. Dismissed."

As the team was leaving, the Hokage spoke up. "Asuma, a moment please."

The Jounin paused and turned to face his father while his team breezed past him, no doubt going home to begin preparations for the journey ahead.

Hiruzen waited until the last one to leave, the Akimichi, had closed the door behind him before he began. "I just wanted to make sure everything was clear for you before you and your team begin this mission tomorrow."

Asuma inclined his head. "You mean you want my brutal and honest opinion about my team before the mission actually begins and we really don't have many choices in turning down the request, correct?"

Hiruzen nodded. "C-ranks are the beginning of what is considered 'real ninja work.' I just want to make sure your team is mentally and emotionally sound in case it runs into bandits and is forced to take lethal action."

"My team has grown since you first saw them, dad. They should be fine."

Hiruzen's eyes turned to ice as they bored into his son. "Look after them as their Jounin-sensei, Asuma," the old man said, his voice sharp and commanding. "They are our village's Will of Fire. Don't forget that."

Asuma looked irritated at the impromptu lecture from his father, but regardless, respectfully inclined his head. "I never forget."

Hiruzen relaxed somewhat before motioning Asuma over to his desk. "Here is the scroll," the old shinobi said, handing the parchment to his son. "Meet with Hatsuki this evening and work out the mission details."

As the Jounin was stepping out of the room, Hiruzen called out to his son, before hesitating. "Uh…Asuma, take care of yourself, won't you?" The Hokage's voice sounded unnaturally vulnerable.

Asuma tensed, unsure of how to respond, before Kurenai's voice echoed in his mind from a previous conversation they had once had. _The Hokage loves you, Asuma. He just doesn't know how to show it._

The Sarutobi smiled inwardly at the words of comfort before giving his father a quick grin. "You've got it, Dad."

* * *

Inoichi knew that his daughter's D-rank missions had been going incredibly well for the past few weeks, ever since she had taken the Oath.

So when she arrived home that evening in an incredibly good mood, Inoichi put two and two together. Still, he held his tongue and patiently waited until he knew Ino would let he and his mother know about the C-rank mission — at dinner.

And that was when the announcement was made. Oh sure, he put on a surprised front for his daughter and his wife, but it was something he was expecting.

An escort mission? Good, that meant less of a chance of fighting bandits. After all, she could've been handed a bandit assassination mission. Those weren't all that uncommon for C-ranks.

Inoichi could hear his daughter prattling away about how great it was that the team was finally being handed a _real_ mission, when he sighed silently.

"I'm so happy for you, Ino," Inoichi heard Izumi tell their daughter. An awkward silence filled the dining room when Inoichi realized his wife and daughter were waiting for him to speak up.

"Ah…Sorry Ino, I was a little distracted there for a moment, I apologize," he began. His wife's eyes were silently boring holes into the side of his head, telling him, _Don't blow this._ Inoichi gave his daughter the best smile he could. "Congratulations, Ino. I'm proud of the hard work I've seen from you."

The atmosphere relaxed and Ino returned to her talkative self. Inoichi released a silent sigh of relief. _The women in my life are scary as hell_ , he concluded sagely.

Even so, the retired shinobi couldn't help but feel apprehensive at his daughter's first real mission. He was proud, yes. But he'd be lying if he said he wasn't scared for Ino's sake. Inoichi's conflicting thoughts and emotions bounced around. It was a wonder he managed to keep his facial expressions neutral; although he suspected Izumi could read him like one of those books she was always so fond of reading.

That night, as Inoichi lay in bed, his mind was spinning and coming up with all sorts of awful scenarios Ino and her team could run into. The retired shinobi quietly groaned and rolled out of bed, his feet making contact with the cold floor. As he sat on the edge of the bed, he felt a soft hand on his back; no words were spoken between he and his wife. She understood his feelings because she herself felt them.

The two remained like that for several moments before they heard the squeak of one of the stairs in their house give way. Inoichi and Izumi shared a look before Izumi gestured her head towards the door that said, "You go check on her." Inoichi acquiesced.

He found Ino sitting at the dining room table in her purple pajamas, her blonde hair a mess. She jumped when she discovered her father standing over her.

"Everything all right, Ino?" the tall ex-shinobi asked.

Ino nodded, but took a deep breath and let out a shaky sigh. "Yeah, just a little nervous. I was having a hard time sleeping."

Inoichi didn't tell his daughter he was having the same problem. He knew she needed his support and he didn't want to damage her confidence a few hours before she was to set off.

"I…see," he began. "Every shinobi feels some nerves before a mission. It's only natural." Inoichi lowered himself into the chair next to his daughter and waited patiently for her to continue.

Ino opened and closed her mouth, unsure of what to say, before she looked over at her father, who wore a look of understanding on his face. Her confidence grew. "I just don't want to blow this mission, that's all. I don't want to embarrass my team or myself." The girl's eyes shifted downward.

Her father could read her like a book. "You mean you don't want word to reach Sasuke of a failure on your part."

The girl didn't lift her head, but nodded. Inoichi sighed.

"Look Ino, this mission goes beyond what a boy will or will not think of you, I hope you understand that," Inoichi began. Ino remained silent, but appeared to be listening intently. "Your duty is first to your mission and then to your teammates' wellbeing. Worry later about everything else."

Inoichi reached forward and lifted Ino's chin with his hand. The girl's eyes appeared uneasy. "Do you remember all those years ago when I described a particular flower as representing who you were?" The girl's eyes shone with understanding before she nodded her head.

"The bush clover," Inoichi reminded her, regardless. "And do you remember what that represents?"

"Feminine elegance," Ino said.

Her father smiled and released his daughter's chin. "Yes. So I want you to remember that you're beautiful and to stop thinking about Sasuke while on this mission. It doesn't do you any good. And besides, if the boy can't see your beauty, then I guess that's his loss."

Ino perked up at her father's praise and a slight bush appeared on her cheeks. "Jeez, stop it dad, you're embarrassing me," she said, playfully punching the man on the shoulder. He beamed.

"It's part of a father's job to embarrass his daughter," Inoichi reminded the blonde girl. Ino rolled her eyes.

"Now, are you okay?"

Ino nodded more confidently this time.

"Good. Then get back up to your room and try to get some sleep."

As she passed him, Ino planted a light kiss on her father's cheek. "Thanks, Dad."

* * *

When Ino arrived at the front gates five minutes before the departure time, she saw both Shikamaru and Chouji yawning and rubbing their eyes.

 _Looks like I wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep very well_.

Ino waved at the two boys ahead of her before her eyes caught sight of a man she assumed was the merchant they were supposed to protect, Hatsuki, if she remembered correctly.

The man was a lanky fellow, but rather tall, only a couple of inches shorter than Asuma who stood next to him. The man carried a large backpack with what appeared to be scores of scrolls stuffed inside.

The man caught Ino peering at him and he raised his hand in greeting. "Hello, Shinobi-san, my name is Hatsuki. Nice to meet you."

Ino smiled and returned the greeting. "My name is Ino Yamanaka. I hope we work well together."

The man's eyes sparked with curiosity. "A Yamanaka, huh? I've already met your teammates, a Nara and an Akimichi, so that must mean this team is the newest generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho, huh? Your families have quite the reputation of producing quality shinobi."

Ino politely inclined her head at the man's praise and subtly eyed him once more. The man wore rather shabby clothes and he appeared to be no older than 30, maybe 35. His brown hair was tied into a ponytail and his glasses kept sliding down his nose, requiring the man to constantly push them back up.

Before she could analyze him further, Asuma cleared his throat and situated his backpack into a more comfortable position. "Since everyone is here, why don't we go ahead and get started?"

Hatsuki beamed and clapped his hands. "Ah, good! Very good! I'm ready to return home. Lead the way Shinobi-san."

As the group passed the two Chunnin on gate guard duty, one of them warmly smiled and waved. "Good luck, you three. Make us proud."

The trio of Genin inclined their heads and kept moving forward beyond the large wooden doors that marked the entrance to the village.

A large dirt road stretched endlessly before the group, but Ino couldn't help but feel excited.

 _And here we go_ , she thought, eyes glued to the expanse before her. _The beginning of real ninja work._

* * *

Jutsu list:

Kagemane no Jutsu— Shadow Imitation Technique

Shintenshin no Jutsu— Mind Body Switch Technique


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: I apologize for the late upload. This fanfiction is strictly a hobby for me, and life has been extremely busy as of late. My upload schedule will be slow going, as a result.

Anyways, read and enjoy!

* * *

Ino was bored.

It had been several hours since the group had departed from Konoha, but the expanse of forest seemed to stretch endlessly for as far as the eye could see.

"Sensei, how long will it take to get there?" Ino whined to their chain-smoking Jounin, who responded with a sigh that expelled wispy smoke from his mouth.

"I already told you, Ino. It's a four-day walk to the northern border. Now stop being so impatient."

Ino huffed, but remained silent.

Despite her nonchalant demeanor, Ino once again subtly eyed their client, Hatsuki, with narrowed eyes. Not because she was suspicious of the man, but simply due to sheer boredom. He was an enigma among a group she knew fairly well.

Not that the man helped himself much. Other than the start of their journey, Hatsuki had kept to himself and had only commented excitedly when the topic strayed far from himself, the mission, or his village.

The only bits of information she or her team knew about the man was that he was married, he had a kid and that he dealt in research materials. The name of his village, after Asuma had pulled and pried the information from the merchant, was Ohira. Ino had never heard of the village, but really, why would she? The Land of Fire was large enough that plenty of tiny villages had managed to spring up in the unlikeliest of places.

But research materials? Really? Ino found it hard to believe, but Hatsuki insisted the roads that passed through Ohira housed scholars on their way to various places in the north and that they had kept the demand high for scholarly parchments, pens, research papers, and scrolls. The issue for Hatsuki had been in keeping his supply of academic papers in stock, as traveling scholars didn't want to waste time, energy, resources and money in traveling to Konoha several days to the south and instead preferred buying their goods from the local villages, even with marked up prices.

Outside of topics about his business, however, the man was a closed clam. Shikamaru appeared to make a bigger deal out of that fact than Ino and Chouji for some reason. Ino had reasoned that the man was simply a private individual. Just because he hired them didn't mean he had to share everything about himself, right?

Ino was pulled from her thoughts when she nearly ran headfirst into Asuma, who had abruptly stopped and stood tensed with his hands buried in his weapons pouch. Ino didn't need to question the behavior. With a quick flare of her chakra, she could also sense the men in the surrounding tree line.

Ino didn't make any sudden movements, but instead checked off items on her mental checklist. A glance out of the corner of her eye placed Shikamaru and Chouji. _Teammates? Check._ A quick, almost imperceptible visual inventory check placed how much and where her shinobi equipment was located. _Tools? Check._ Closing her eyes, Ino effortlessly focused her chakra outwards, identifying the targets. Six men with no identifiable chakra markers.

 _Bandits_? Ino speculated. The six men must've spotted Hatsuki's large backpack stuffed to the brim with scrolls and assumed he would make a good haul. Not to mention the majority of his guards were children.

A bow was drawn from a nearby bush. Asuma locked eyes with the Genin and nodded.

In a split second, the nocked arrow was released with a deep twang, the arrow shooting straight for Hatsuki. The merchant's eyes locked onto the approaching arrow and his face morphed into a look of terror and trepidation at what he undoubtedly assumed would be his final moments.

The arrow shot forward closer and closer to the man, aiming for his torso. Before Hatsuki could react, the man's body flinched, and with the reaction of a trained shinobi, he dropped to his stomach in one quick motion, the arrow flying harmlessly through the spot he had stood only a second earlier.

The bowman wasn't the only one surprised. Hatsuki's eyes bulged momentarily before locking onto Shikamaru, who lay in the same position several feet away. His hands formed the 'Rat' seal and a thin, needlelike shadow connected the two.

The bandit bowman couldn't believe it as he lay concealed in his hiding place in a nearby roadside bush. _Shinobi guards? Shit, if that's the case, then we were are in real tr—_

The man gurgled in a flash as blood spewed from a deep slash in his neck. He was dead before he hit the ground. Asuma stood over the man with his custom trench knives and quickly pinpointed the other bandits, who had by that point discovered what the bowman had and were frantically making a beat out of the area.

With a series of quick shunshins, Asuma made short work of the majority of the bandits, except for one, who had doubled back and was heading towards the merchant and the trio of Genin who were guarding him in what appeared to be a last-ditch effort to recoup any losses he knew he would face upon return to his base if he arrived empty handed.

Ino saw the bandit running haphazardly towards their group, hair wild and eyes wide. He wielded a katana that appeared dull and cracked. Specks of rust coated the metallic surface of the blade. The handle was brown from dirt and grime after being exposed unprotected to the elements.

Ino's eyes widened at the man's condition.

 _These bandits are desperate for any sort of goods they can get their hands on_ , Ino realized, as she subconsciously stepped forward to confront the man.

A real battle wasn't like training at the academy, Ino first noticed. The man, while unskilled with the blade, looked to be moving in slow motion as he attempted to slash at the kunoichi. A sidestep. A quick step backwards. A slight twist of the body. Ino was easily able to dodge the man's blows, which seemed to only terrify the bandit even more.

The man heaved a breath, spittle flying from his mouth before he used his sleeve to wipe the fluid away. Grabbing the katana with both hands, the man's eyes bulged in a psychotic, almost inhuman way before he lunged forward with all of his strength at the blonde haired kunoichi. Ino's heart pounded as she briefly sidestepped the attack and whipped her kunai from her pouch in a quick motion. The man's eyes, so focused on where Ino had previously been standing, shifted to the kunai in her hand, but it was too late: he was far too exposed.

Ino quickly ducked under the man's outstretched arms and ripped the sharp edge of her kunai across the man's belly as though she were gutting a fish. A throaty scream escaped the bandit as he dropped his sword and fell to his knees, arms clutched around his stomach.

Ino watched the blood pool beneath the bandit and, no longer willing to watch the suffering, appeared behind the man and snapped his neck with a quick pop. The man's whimpering ended abruptly.

Ino stared passively down at the deceased bandit when she felt Asuma softly pat her on the back.

"The first one is always the hardest."

Ino nodded dumbly before a wave of nausea suddenly welled up inside her. Walking delicately several feet away from the corpse, she turned her back to her teammates and retched violently until nothing remained.

Ino could feel her teammates' eyes on her back as she wiped the corner of her mouth with the back of a shaky hand. One word came to her mind.

 _Fuck._

* * *

Asuma stood over the corpse. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shikamaru and Chouji rubbing Ino's back, offering words of encouragement to the visibly shaken girl while her body continued to shake with each new retch.

Hatsuki awkwardly stood off to the side, away from Asuma and the trio of Genin, a hesitant look spread across his face as he kept peaking glances at the kids.

The Jounin grimaced at the sound, but steeled himself and returned his attention to the corpse. As he analyzed the body for any hints of identification, the man's arms caught Asuma's attention.

Bone showed through the man's skin, the skin stretched taut across the bone like a dry sheet. It was obvious the bandit hadn't seen proper nutrition in months. Asuma's curiosity was piqued.

With an effort, the Jounin managed to roll the body onto its back. A quick scan of the former bandit's physique had Asuma's eyes widening even more. The man, simply put, had been starving to death when the battle took place.

 _No wonder he attempted something so reckless_ , Asuma reflected. It was the only logical explanation given the number of Genin protecting Hatsuki, the prowess he himself had displayed, and the poor condition of the bandit's equipment.

 _I wonder_ … Asuma trailed off, eyes searching for the rest of the bandit contingency he had singlehandedly eliminated. A quick check ensured that Ino and the two boys were safe before Asuma shunshined to his former killing zone in the surrounding forest. Three more bodies lay lifeless next to the Sarutobi, a quick scan confirming his suspicions: they too had been suffering from extreme malnutrition.

Asuma sighed and ran a hand across his face before returning to the dirt road. He found Hatsuki crouched over the dead bandit just….staring at it. The merchant jumped at the Jounin's approach.

"What do you make of this?" Asuma gestured at the corpse, catching Hatsuki momentarily by surprise at the inquiry.

A short grunt left the gangly man when he stood from his crouched position. He leveled Asuma with an expressionless look. "And what could I tell you that you don't already know, hmmm?"

The Sarutobi shrugged noncommittally, essentially asking the merchant, "I don't know, so why don't you tell me?"

Hatsuki's smirk was morbid given the circumstances, but he surprised Asuma by pointing at the bandit's garb. "See that brown fabric?"

The Jounin nodded.

"That fabric is only manufactured in and around the Ohira area. We have a family that is well known in the area for making clothes well suited for rainy conditions. I don't know how they do it, but the clothes they make are water resistant." The man held out his sleeve for Asuma to touch. "See?"

Asuma rubbed the material between his fingers, which felt smooth, like the soft clay that accumulated in the sediment of nearby rivers. Somehow that family Hatsuki mentioned had managed to replicate those properties into the manufacturing process. The Jounin dropped his hand and glanced once more at the dead bandit.

"So essentially you're saying these bandits most likely came from the Ohira area." There was no question; Asuma was certain.

Hatsuki's smirk grew into a small smile. He pointed repeatedly at the Jounin as though something was on the tip of his tongue and he just couldn't quite remember. "You're pretty sharp, you know that?" The merchant sounded impressed.

Asuma didn't humor the man and appeared to shy away from the praise. "I need to check on my team. If you'll excuse me…" As the Sarutobi ducked his head and began walking over to the trio of Genin, he could feel the merchant's gaze on his back. Asuma managed to ignore the temptation to turn and face Hatsuki, slowly approaching the two boys who were gazing concernedly over Ino. The young girl stood hunched over, but her body had finally stopped trembling and she no longer appeared nauseous. A spark of relief lit Ino's features when a light touch from Asuma brought her attention back to the Jounin.

"How're you holding up?"

"Fine," Asuma heard the Yamanaka mumble. The Sarutobi shared dubious looks with Shikamaru and Chouji before the three silently came to an agreement. They all understood: they had to keep moving in order to make it to their destination on time, but yet Ino needed to get back on her feet.

"Can you walk?" Asuma queried the blonde girl. She managed a weak nod, before taking one unsteady step. Then another. Then a step that was more confident. Several feet later, Ino appeared to be back on her feet. Asuma gave the two boys a look that said, "Keep an eye on her just in case." He turned to find Hatsuki looking back at him from his position over near the bandit corpse.

Asuma waved the merchant over. "We're leaving. Let's go." He saw the man adjust his large backpack and let out a weary sigh. "Yes…..Yes…." the man uttered as he breezed past the Jounin.

With the group of four ahead of him, Asuma's eyes refocused once more on the bandit corpse. The logical conclusion that neither he nor Hatsuki had broached had been a significant one. If the bandits were suffering malnutrition and had come this far south just to rob weaker victims, then the reasonable question would have to be…. Asuma adjusted his gear and set off after his team and client.

 _Who or what interfered with this bandit group to the point of forcing them to take such drastic measures?_

* * *

Ino remembered the lessons taught by the Academy on killing, a particular subject the Academy had touched upon more than once. It was a lesson graduates all remembered because it was one of the last and most intense taught before a student could graduate.

Iruka-sensei was as serious as a heart attack when the lessons were taught, but Ino couldn't help but scoff now at how the lessons paled in comparison to the _actual_ experience of killing a man.

All that time spent drilling the importance of burying their emotions. Ino inwardly frowned at the notion. Maybe it worked for seasoned shinobi, but for a 12-year-old kid? Nearly impossible.

Ino's stomach continued to churn. It had been a few hours since the confrontation with the bandits, and the group now found itself unpacked and camped out nuzzled along the road. Hatsuki and Asuma were sharing a tent; the merchant had appeared eternally grateful when the Jounin unsealed one large enough for two bedrolls.

With that said, the two were awfully suspicious. Both were hiding key pieces of information from the Genin about the bandits, Ino suspected. She had an inkling that Shikamaru had managed to piece together some of the information on his own, but he was unwilling to share.

Ino shivered as a cold breeze blew through their camp. As the Yamanaka hugged herself, her attention was drawn to Shikamaru and Chouji, both of whom had been unnaturally quiet since the bandit attack.

Ino exhaled a shaky breath and peered down at her hands. A warm light danced across her palms from a small fire the group had managed to scrounge together. It was a fire pit; to avoid revealing the group to potential enemies. _We don't want to attract attention to ourselves_ , Asuma had said.

The Yamanaka caught Shikamaru lazily eyeing her and even Chouji was watching her. Ino suddenly felt irritated. She massaged her temples and sighed tiredly.

"Look. Stop it, all right? I'm fine." Ino's eyes were closed as she directed her words at her two teammates without looking up.

"You sure as hell don't look fine," Ino heard Shikamaru retort. A grunt of approval came from Chouji.

"I don't appreciate you two treating me like a fragile glass vase," Ino began, and she saw the two boys stiffen at the rebuttal. "I do appreciate the concern," her voice softened and she half smiled at the two Genin. "It's just that I don't know how to act around you two when you treat me this way."

Shikamaru said nothing as he sidled closer to the Yamanaka's left at the same time the snack eating Akimichi sidled closer to her right. The three remained quiet for several moments before Chouji broke the silence.

"Is it really that traumatic to kill a man?" Chouji asked innocently.

Shikamaru smacked his forehead at the chubby boy's bluntness. "What Chouji meant to ask was how the experience of killing a man compares to how the Academy made it appear. I can only guess the Academy really blew it."

Ino continued to peer down into the fire pit for a few moments before shrugging her shoulders at the question. "For me, yeah, it was way different. But it's probably different for each individual. Everyone probably reacts differently."

The blonde girl heard Shikamaru mumbling under his breath, but nothing was decipherable. Ino's eyes gleamed at the chance to tease the boy. "What was that, Shikamaru?" Ino began in a playful tone. "You'll have to speak up." The Nara rolled his eyes, but scratched his neck uncomfortably, appearing unsure how to continue.

"So how _was_ it different for you, then?" he finally managed.

Ino slowly ran her hands through her hair and didn't say anything for a few moments. When she finally turned her attention to the boy, she saw him gaze at her with concern.

"Words can only explain so much," Ino began. The bandit's bloodshot eyes flashed briefly in her memory. "The Academy explains killing as though it were an everyday chore, but when you have a man there in front of you who knows he is about to die…" Ino bit her lip. "Well, it changes things…."

"It does get easier." The three Genin jumped at the voice and discovered Asuma standing quietly behind them. Neither Ino nor Shikamaru said anything and Chouji continued eating. The silence from the Genin told Asuma to continue.

"I'm not saying it will become an easy thing to do, at least it never has for me," Asuma continued. "But continuing to dwell on a kill you made helps nothing. It only exasperates the process." Asuma leveled a look at each Genin to get them to understand, to _make_ them understand. His gaze lingered on Ino the most.

"Do you understand now why we're so hesitant to send Genin on C-rank missions?" The Sarutobi queried the three Genin. Each nodded their heads.

"This isn't a game, despite how helpless those bandits appeared. Always remember that when you go into battle, it's a life or death situation. You must be willing to swallow your emotions and do what needs to be done. Understand?"

The Genin were tense, but each nodded.

"And one last thing…" the Jounin held up a finger. "Your team is important. Treasure it."

The atmosphere was tense, but Asuma didn't seem to want to leave. He sighed and let a small chuckle escape. "I didn't originally come here to give a lecture, you know." He reached into his pocket and held out his hand for the three Genin. The trio looked confused.

Asuma met their looks with an amused expression plastered on his face. He pulled open each of their hands and placed a small leaf into the center of their palms. "This is your training."

More confused expressions.

Asuma now looked even more amused. "Use your chakra to cause the leaf in your hand to float. But…" And the Jounin pointed at each of them. "Don't let it touch your hand. And you have to maintain the leaf while we eat tonight. Just an FYI." The three Genin shot Asuma annoyed glares, but acquiesced to the request, each furrowing their brows and beginning the exercise with varying levels of success.

Ino was the first to get her leaf floating, but a quiet crackle from the fire broke her concentration and the leaf spilled softly into her palm once more. The Yamanaka aimed a pleading look at her sensei. He raised his hands in a placating gesture.

"The secret is in maintaining your focus when you are distracted," Asuma told the bewildered Genin. "It's great for learning chakra control. From now on, I expect each of you to practice with this leaf. If you can manage to eat your food and keep the leaf in that position the entire time, I'll teach you about the second step."

Ino loudly groaned, Shikamaru mumbled, and Chouji scrunched his face into a grimace.

Dinner was not going to be fun.

* * *

The group trudged through the sloshy mud as rain pelted them from above. They were now more than two days into the journey to Ohira, but the weather had taken a turn for the worst a couple of hours after they had broken camp.

Every person in the group wore cloaks, but it appeared to do little good against the freezing rain. The three Genin walked closely together in an effort to preserve some body heat, but the water seemed to soak them to the bone.

Ino was too miserable to even complain to Asuma, who silently walked behind the Genin and merchant.

Because no one had been willing to talk, Ino was given a lot of time for self-reflection about the previous day's events. When her thoughts drifted to the bandit she had killed the previous day, Ino shook her head and chided herself for going down that train of thought.

But it never went away. Not because she had killed the man; she logically understood that if was necessary. What gave her pause was how helpless he had been. The difference in their prowess was so clear-cut, so overpowering, that essentially she had been the man's judge and jury.

 _I couldn't imagine that feeling of hopelessness_ , Ino came to realize.

Shikamaru and Chouji had tried to understand what it was that bothered her, but Ino couldn't express it in words. She had grown up in a well-regarded clan that had members who were accomplished shinobi. Did they suffer from these thoughts as well?

Ino's attention was pulled away from her thoughts when she felt a tight yank on her cloak. A quick glance from the blonde saw Shikamaru, face partly concealed by his hood, pointing to a structure looming directly ahead of the group.

Ino chastised herself for being too distracted. _If an enemy had attacked, I could've been killed_.

Asuma silently held his hand up for the group to stop, and the three Genin formed a protective formation around Hatsuki.

"It's an abandoned watchtower Konoha shinobi used in the past as a staging point for recon missions." The group of shinobi heard the merchant quietly explain. Asuma appeared to ponder the information before looking at Ino.

"Do you sense anyone nearby?"

Ino closed her eyes and a quick second passed before she reopened them. She looked determinedly at Asuma and shook her head. Asuma scratched his chin before dropping his pack onto the sloshy mud road. "I'm going to go check it out. Remember…" the man paused and looked at the Genin. You don't see my signal or you get attacked? Retreat back down the way we came. I don't return? Send a messenger hawk to Konoha with a request for aid and try to hide in the meantime."

The trio simultaneously nodded before Asuma silently began running across the muddy road towards the watchtower, the heavy rain blanketing the man's presence.

Several minutes passed and the Genin shifted impatiently. Hatsuki looked pale. Finally, Ino felt the signal: a quick three burst of chakra from Asuma. Ino stood from her crouched position and beckoned the group to follow. The group cautiously followed the blonde headed shinobi, Chouji lugging Asuma's pack.

 _What took him so long_? Ino wondered as she sloshed her way over to the structure. If the watchtower had been abandoned, it wouldn't have taken Asuma more than a minute to clear the place, right? Her question was answered when the team of Genin found Asuma inside the tower peering down at a group of slaughtered travelers.

The moment Hatsuki stepped underneath the covered tower, Asuma whirled around and jabbed a finger at the man. "Why didn't you tell us about the dangers of this road?" he demanded, motioning at the corpses. Hatsuki raised his hands in a placating gesture to try and calm the Jounin.

"Look, you have to understand that I traveled south on this road several weeks ago. When I traveled it, I never experienced anything like this."

Asuma lowered his finger and returned his gaze to the corpses. There were five of them, but the kills didn't appear fresh. It had to have been sometime in the past few weeks when they were killed. One of the corpses caught Asuma's attention when he noticed a small scroll clenched in the man's hand. Peeling back the man's fingers from his grip around the scroll revealed official looking documents, set with wax seals and signatures.

 _He must've been reading it when he was ambushed_ , Asuma thought as he opened the scroll and began scanning the contents.

 _Dear Shinsuke, please take this shipment of scrolls to your suppliers. Present this note to the appropriate supervisor in Kumogakure so they can verify your identity. When you reach the village…._

Asuma's mind was spinning. From what he could gather, this merchant, Shinsuke, must've been killed for his cargo, which was nowhere to be seen. Could it have been bandits? He doubted it, considering the state the group had found those other bandits in. Asuma ground his teeth in frustration. He was still missing something here…

"…sensei? Hello? Asuma-sensei?" Chouji pulled Asuma from his thoughts. The Jounin shook his head and turned his attention to the group. "Ah, sorry Chouji, what is it?"

The Akimichi shared a look with his teammates, both of whom shrugged. "We were trying to ask you what our next move is going to be."

Asuma looked at the bodies strewn across the room. "We're staying here for the night and out of the elements. But we need to move these corpses first." The Jounin bent over and began dragging the merchant's corpse out of the tower and into the forest. Huffs and puffs behind him told Asuma his students were doing the same.

After several minutes, the group found itself sprawled out on the stone floor at the base of the tower with a fire glowing from a fire pit. The tower appeared to have been built decades ago as a forward operations post for Konoha recon teams. No doubt teams at the time found themselves in similar conditions to their own, Asuma thought.

Asuma lifted his gaze to look at the tower's ceiling. He knew he'd feel relaxed under the safety of the tower's stone roof if it weren't for the recent events he and the group had taken part in. A bandit attack was nothing out of the ordinary for a C-rank mission, of course, but their presence and behavior was troubling to say the least. And the bodies they had discovered here…

An argument between Ino and Shikamaru broke the Jounin from his trance, and watching as the two insulted each other made him realize he would have to spill the information he had discovered. It was only fair considering they were an integral part in protecting their merchant client. The Sarutobi sighed at the explanation he would have to give them, but he steeled himself and moved forward. He cleared his throat, and the three Genin plus Hatsuki turned to look at him.

"Look guys, there's something you should know…"

* * *

"You mean to tell us that we may be dealing with enemy shinobi here?" Ino asked incredulously. The kunoichi spoke while a leaf effortlessly floated over her palm. Her teammates were doing the same, but struggled to consistently keep the leaf afloat. Asuma eyed the blonde girl and inwardly smiled.

He pointed to Ino's leaf. "Why don't you try hovering the leaf over your index finger next?" The girl eyed Asuma dubiously before agreeing to the request. Immediately it became clear to the Yamanaka that controlling the leaf with her index finger required more precise control. Asuma smirked at Ino as she scrunched her face in concentration.

"What is this exercise supposed to accomplish, exactly?" Ino asked distractedly, now annoyed at both being made fun of by her sensei and for him trying to change the subject. "And stop trying to change the subject. We want a straight answer from you."

Asuma's eye twitched at the Yamanaka's attitude, but he continued. "The answer to your first question is learning chakra control. Once you master controlling chakra through your index finger, move to two leaves over two fingers, then three leaves over three fingers, and so on. It will make future chakra control exercises infinitely easier."

The Jounin paused before leveling Ino and the two boys a serious gaze. "As for the original question: yes, there is that possibility, but it's highly unlikely given Konoha's intelligence that was gathered for this mission."

Shikamaru's leaf dropped into his hand before he rolled his eyes at his sensei's statement. "Intelligence isn't foolproof, Asuma-sensei. There's always a chance it could be slightly mistaken or just plain wrong, isn't that right?" The Nara's eyes sharpened as he waited for Asuma's answer, gears clearly turning.

Asuma shifted uncomfortably and grumbled under his breath before giving in to the line of questioning. He smiled sheepishly. "There's no fooling you, Shikamaru. You're right. Our intelligence on this mission could very well be wrong. That's why I wanted to ask you what you all wanted to do moving forward with this mission."

The three were surprised at the question. Hatsuki remained silent and tried to wear a blank expression, but Asuma could tell the man wanted to return home as soon as possible. He was worried. And rightly so.

"I say we keep going with the mission." Ino was the first to speak, and she met Asuma's hard gaze with one of her own. Her expression was serious, and little of that childlike innocence the Jounin had seen the blonde show had faded since she became his student. Her smile didn't reach quite as high as it used to, and her eyes didn't sparkle with quite the same amount of enthusiasm. Killing a man had that effect on every shinobi he'd seen. It made him ashamed that it had to happen.

"I agree with Ino," Chouji spoke soon after. "We can't return to the village empty handed simply because we felt uncomfortable."

The group aimed its attention at the holdout—Shikamaru. The boy cupped his hands in front of his body as he sat deep in thought. After several seconds, the boy opened his eyes and nodded his head.

"I agree with Ino and Chouji. We were assigned this mission, and despite the evidence we have collected so far, it could all point to a number of scenarios other than enemy shinobi. If shinobi always acted simply on what ifs and pure conjecture, we wouldn't get anything productive done."

Asuma appeared satisfied with the Genins' answers before he looked at Hatsuki with an inquiring glance. "So how about it, Hatsuki? You willing to continue onwards to your village?"

The merchant appeared relieved at the decision and he flashed the shinobi a smile. "You bet I am. Thank you everyone. Truly."

"Then that settles it," Asuma concluded. "Be prepared. We leave at sunrise." The three Genin eagerly began to climb into their sleeping bags, but Asuma stopped them with a quick jab of his finger. "When did I say you could go to sleep? You still have an hour of chakra control practice left. Get to it."

Ino looked ready to explode, Shikamaru's eyes couldn't get any narrower and Chouji was almost ready to cry. Each sat down with a huff and continued their exercises while Asuma looked on with a smug expression.

"You're a sadist, you know that?" Asuma heard Hatsuki direct at him. The Sarutobi chuckled and playfully hit the man on the shoulder.

"You're just now noticing that?"

* * *

The group broke camp and left as soon as rays of sunlight were peeking over the tree line. Asuma was in the lead, followed closely by Hatsuki, and behind him the three Genin dragged their feet across the muddy road, each looking haggard and grumpy.

Asuma stole a glance at the trio trailing behind him and laughed. He had originally planned to lecture them on the dangers of being lazy, but honestly, who was he to say anything? Memories of the night before hung in his mind like misty haze, at the progress the Genin had shown in their chakra control.

Asuma watched as Ino rubbed her eyes and let out an unladylike yawn. Memories of her practice session, especially, stood out in his mind. She had already mastered the leaf control exercise on one finger and had moved to controlling two leaves simultaneously on separate fingers.

Shikamaru and Chouji were doing well also. Each had managed to finish their practice last night with solid control in the palm of their hands. Asuma intended to have the two begin practicing channeling chakra through their fingers during the next practice session.

Asuma returned his attention to the road before gazing up at the sky above. No stormy clouds were visible and the weather looked to be clear in every direction.

 _Thank kami no more rain_ , Asuma thought, a new spring to his step. A voice interrupted his thoughts, however.

It was a voice laced with an unusual amount of cheerfulness, and Asuma was surprised to discover that Hatsuki was the owner.

"Have you ever been to Ohira before?" the unusually chipper Hatsuki asked the Jounin. Asuma subtly shook his head and as he did he noticed the trio of Genin gravitate closer to the merchant, seemingly aware of the man's change in demeanor.

Hatsuki smiled and nodded assuredly to the response as though he was expecting it. "That's no surprise there, that it's not. Not many people around Konoha have heard of it much less know anything about it."

It seemed as though the merchant could sense the interested audience and his eyes shone with a bit of pride. "Would _you three_ like to know more about the village?" Hatsuki whipped his head around and leveled a smirk at the three, a playful lilt lacing his speech when he knew he caught the three attempting to eavesdrop.

The Genin had the decency to appear sheepish, but Ino couldn't help but feel thunderstruck at the man's change in demeanor.

 _He's like a different person_ , Ino reflected. A questioning thought came to her mind.

 _Does he trust us now?_

Her suspicions dinged correct as the merchant dove into stories about his home life, the strange customs he and the villagers of Ohira partook in, funny stories about his time as one of the villager's merchants, and stories travelers told him of their own adventures while they were passing through on their way to faraway lands.

One of Hatsuki's stories stood out in Ino's mind.

"There was this one time I had a traveler attempt to barter with me with a currency that was completely worthless here in the Land of Fire."

"Did you shut the man down and tell him to pay up with the proper currency?" Hatsuki directed his attention to Chouji, who leaned in with a curious expression as he walked next to the merchant. Hatsuki laughed.

"Nope. He bought a couple of my books using that worthless currency of his." The merchant laughed at the memory while scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. The rest of the group sweat dropped at the admission.

"You mean you just let him walk all over you like that?" Ino demanded.

Hatsuki held his hands up in a placating manner. "Now, now. At that point, for me it wasn't about who walked all over the other." He wryly smiled at the memory. "He was so convinced I was getting such a good deal with his currency that he looked positively stricken with disappointment at the amount of coin he had to pay up. I couldn't say no to a man like that."

Ino gave a look to her teammates that said, "Can you believe this guy?"

Hatsuki appeared to have noticed the look and he smiled at the girl's expression. "I know I sound pretty pathetic in a story like that, but I think there is a lesson one could learn from it." The man held up a finger and grabbed the attention of the Genin.

He waited. And waited. Shikamaru and Chouji shifted impatiently for the man to open up about his nugget of wisdom. Ino couldn't take it anymore.

"And what is this lesson?"

Hatsuki nodded smugly at the question. Asuma held back a laugh. Hatsuki was obviously enjoying this way too much.

The merchant leveled the Genin with a semi-serious expression before he continued. "The lesson is to not take life so seriously all the time. Could I have haggled the traveler much more effectively? Sure, but I decided to let it go instead of ruthlessly pursuing my payment. I made a friend and got a good laugh. What would the alternative have gotten me?"

Hatsuki dramatically shrugged his shoulders at his own question. The Genin pondered the question.

"That doesn't mean I expect you three to go easy on your training now," Asuma called out from ahead of the group. He smiled subtly when he heard groans come from the Genin.

Hatsuki's jovial mood continued the rest of the day and into the night after the group had made camp. They were less than half a day away from Ohira, and the closer they got to their destination the more excited the merchant appeared to be.

 _He's probably excited about seeing his family_ , Ino reflected. She couldn't blame him. If what he said was true, the merchant hadn't seen his family for several weeks.

She pondered the man's situation as she practiced channeling chakra through her fingers, leaves hovering above three of her fingers. Ino turned her attention to her teammates and found them struggling to get the leaf hovering over their index finger. The Yamanaka inwardly smiled at her own success.

"Might I ask why the three of you wear matching earrings?"

The question from Hatsuki surprised Ino, but not enough to break her chakra control exercise. She directed her attention to the merchant, who was pointing to his own lobes with a curious expression painted on his face.

"They're a reminder of a promise that we share," Ino said simply.

When Ino didn't elaborate, Hatsuki motioned for her to continue. "What kind of promise?"

Ino took a deep breath and sighed. "The earrings are symbols of our clans, to remind the three of us to protect not only our village, but also ourselves."

Hatsuki's face faltered for a moment before he recovered quickly. "Ah, I see. It seems like a very important promise to keep."

Ino nodded her head at the man's assessment and returned her attention to her training.

Hatsuki opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated and let the question die in his throat: _And how far does that promise go_?

* * *

The village of Ohira wasn't impressive by any stretch of the imagination, Asuma noted at the hamlet below, visible after the group had crested over a large hill a few hours earier.

The three Genin appeared to share his opinion, but remained quiet in respect for their client, who had shown a lot of pride in the village.

There may have been five or six wooden cabins total that made up the village, but from what Hatsuki had told the group, the path through the village was consistently busy with travelers of all kinds.

However, Asuma noticed as the group approached the hamlet that there was no activity from the villagers nor any traffic. There was, simply, nothing going on. Warning bells rang inside his head and he shot a look at the three Genin, who returned his gaze with a firm nod.

Asuma stole a glance at Hatsuki, and the merchant appeared extremely distressed at the developing situation. He caught Asuma's eye and a grim expression filled his face. He gestured at the group.

"Something isn't right here. Let's go to my home and try and get this figured out. Come, my home is on the outskirts of the village."

Several minutes later and the group found itself at Hatsuki's home, a standard wooden cabin that matched the aesthetic of the others. Hatsuki gripped the doorknob to his home and pulled the door ajar.

"I'm home!" Hatsuki called inside.

Silence answered.

By this time, the entire team of shinobi was on edge. Asuma stood rooted at the entrance of Hatsuki's home and glared daggers at the merchant's back while the man stood facing away from the group.

"Don't you want to come in?" Hatsuki's voice cracked. Asuma didn't respond, but was surprised when the merchant's body began shaking. Tears streamed down the man's face and fell silently onto the floor's coarse wooden boards.

After several minutes with no words exchanged between Hatsuki and the shinobi, the man wiped his tears with his sleeve and exited the cabin.

The interior of the cabin had been lived in. Asuma found signs of children, like scattered toys and a bunk bed pushed into the corner of the small home, but a thin layer of dust coated every surface.

Asuma backtracked until he stood next to his team. The four of them leveled the merchant with serious looks.

"You lured us out here." Asuma wasn't asking, but Hatsuki responded with a weak nod.

"Yes, but it appears as though our agreement has been terminated as well," the merchant simply stated, vaguely motioning towards the empty village. Asuma's eyes narrowed to slits.

"What agreement? And with who?"

Asuma's eyes widened when numerous shuriken sped in his direction. Fortunately, the four shinobi were alert and managed to jump aside.

Hatsuki took the opportunity and ran further down the dirt road leading out of the village. Asuma shouted out at the merchant to come back, but the shout went on deaf ears.

Asuma shook his head and returned his attention to the surrounding tree line where the shuriken were thrown from. He knew he didn't have the luxury of chasing after Hatsuki. He glanced quickly to his right and confirmed that his team was unharmed.

Just as he did so, four figures emerged from the shrubbery, each decked out in standard shinobi garb. What puzzled Asuma, however, were the quartet's metal headbands. No distinguishing etchings.

 _What village are they from_?

Ino shared the question with her Jounin sensei and she was sure Chouji and Shikamaru did as well.

One of the shinobi stepped forward, a plain looking man with brown spiky hair and a deep scar carved into his right cheek. His eyes appeared hollow and forlorn, but they had an edge to them only seen in experienced shinobi, Asuma immediately noted.

Asuma knew by looking at his eyes that the man had seen more than his fair share of battles.

"Sorry, but we cannot allow you to live after what you've seen here," the brown haired man said. "Our master can't have you reporting this to your father, Asuma Sarutobi." The tail end of the shinobi's declaration was laced with icy ruthlessness.

The shinobi barked a quick and quiet order to his three men. Asuma appeared collected, but inwardly he was panicking. The four ninja looked very experienced; way too much for mere Genin.

Asuma looked at his trio and looks of nervousness were returned. "Remember your chakra control. Don't overexert yourself. Know your limits. Remember that they will fight to kill and won't hold back. We will go with team plan 4."

Team plan 4. Ino understood it as well as her two teammates. A plan designed around a tactical retreat in the face of superior shinobi. A cycle of brief skirmish followed by brief retreat. The idea was to shake off pursuers and get them to stop pursuing altogether.

It was a rough plan with many variables, but it was one designed to limit shinobi combat and ensure escape, Ino remembered.

Several tense moments passed as the two groups stared at one another. Ino swallowed at the heavy, almost oppressive atmosphere.

The enemy team of shinobi released their killing intent at the Konoha shinobi and silently charged with kunai raised.

* * *

The wave of killing intent hit the Genin like a wave, binding them in place as though invisible hands were pulling them downwards.

The brown haired shinobi charged at Asuma, but before he could reach the Sarutobi, the Jounin released his own dose of killing intent. The scar-faced man smirked at the feeling and at his kunai being repelled by Asuma's trench knives.

Ino gaped at the speed at which the two Jounin-level shinobi traded blows. A dodged slash. A quick explosion. It was almost too fast to follow.

A group of shuriken shot towards Ino from one of the three other shinobi. He wore a gray mask that covered his mouth and nose, but left his eyes exposed. Ino acted on instinct alone and managed to deflect a few of the metal stars.

If the masked shinobi was surprised, he didn't show it. He flung a kunai at Ino's chest from his position several feet away and raised his hands in the ram hand seal. What was an easily traceable kunai shot forward even faster at the speed of a missile. Ino barely managed to roll out of the kunai's path when a large slip of paper on the weapon's handle caught the Yamanaka's attention.

An exploding tag.

"Oh sh—" Ino managed before an explosion rocked the battlefield.

Asuma heard the loud blast and knew his team had spent enough time fighting. He placed his index and middle fingers underneath his tongue and blew out a sharp whistle before throwing a smoke bomb onto the battlefield.

 _I just hope my team is still alive to hear this_ , Asuma thought as he flung a few shuriken in the brown-haired shinobi's direction before Shunshining away to join with his team.

He was relieved to find his entire team in one piece at the rendezvous point. They looked worse for wear, especially Ino, whose body and clothes were singed, no doubt a product of having nearly been blown to bits by the exploding tag.

Ino, for her part, had no idea how she'd managed to Kawarimi out of the situation. Her body reacted without further thought, but her technique was sloppy; the Kawarimi placed her a few feet outside of the direct blast radius, but not enough to avoid some collateral damage. Her wounds, thank goodness, were superficial.

Ino quickly turned her attention to Shikamaru and Chouji. The two boys weren't in as bad a condition as her, however Chouji was suffering from shallow cuts on his cheek and left arm and Shikamaru was developing a dark bruise over his right eye.

"You all threw smoke bombs down, correct?" the three Genin turned to look at Asuma, who didn't appear to have been touched by his opponent.

Asuma appeared satisfied when the Genin quickly nodded their heads, but he, along with the three Genin were still mulling over one important piece of information: Hatsuki and his "agreement". Asuma knew the Genin weren't naïve enough to not realize that the merchant had sold them out.

 _But who was Hatsuki in agreement with? And why did it feel like Hatsuki himself was sold out as well?_ These questions plagued Asuma to no end, but the Jounin knew he didn't have time to mull them over.

"Come on," Asuma thumbed in the direction they had originally approached the village from. "Our mission is over. The parameters have completely changed and we're no longer under any obligation to keep Hatsuki on as a client."

Ino opened her mouth to argue, but a sharp look from Asuma kept her quiet. "This isn't a request. It's an order." Ino huffed and looked away.

Shikamaru and Chouji appeared unhappy with the order, but chose to remain silent. Asuma's eyes softened. "Those three masked shinobi are too experienced for you to handle. Having you fight them now is tantamount to suicide."

Asuma turned his head and peered over his shoulder when he heard the sound of rustling leaves.

 _Approaching shinobi?_ Asuma tensed.

"Get ready you three," he barked at the Genin. "We're not out of this situation yet."

* * *

Hatsuki was out of breath by the time he reached the top of the outcropping.

His large pack had weighed him down along with the uphill battle he had been fighting against the forces of gravity. A small cottage lay before the merchant, barely large enough to house one person. It was isolated on a cliff that overlooked the village: a perfect vantage point to see the going ons of the village without being seen.

Hatsuki knocked on the scratched wooden door but heard no response. He knocked harder. Still no response.

 _Where is he_? Hatsuki thought as he bit his lip.

"Hello there, Hatsuki-kun." Hatsuki shivered when he heard a voice directly behind him. Slithery like a snake and cold and uncaring as ever. Hatsuki turned to face him.

Orochimaru.

The merchant didn't hide his disdain for the master shinobi, but instead unclasped the buckles to his pack and threw it at the shinobi's feet.

"There are your forbidden jutsu scrolls. Your thief in Konoha did his job well."

Orochimaru's eyes widened in anticipation when he uncovered the numerous scrolls stashed inside the pack. "Hmm… Very good. You've done well, Hatsuki-kun. You have quite the knack for smuggling. You sure you wouldn't want to make a career of it?" The pale-faced shinobi drew out his words in a mocking tone while he looked the merchant up and down.

Hatsuki trained his expression to stay neutral, but a nagging concern gnawed away at him. "And what about the village? Where is everyone?"

Orochimaru sifted through the pile of scrolls without concern when he dropped a bomb on the merchant. "Hmm? Oh yes, they're all dead."

Hatsuki's stomach dropped. "B-but you promised to leave us alone if I got the scrolls for you!"

"I lied and used you." Orochimaru impassively continued examining the scrolls.

"But why kill everyone?!" Hatsuki was shaking in anger. His heart was beating uncontrollably and he was grinding his teeth together. Orochimaru glanced up at the merchant and let slip a small smirk.

"Hatsuki-kun, let me show you something that'll answer all of your questions." Orochimaru stood and gracefully glided around the building to the area behind the cottage, beckoning the man to follow.

Hatsuki was wary of the summon, but he followed anyways. When he saw Orochimaru ahead of him looking down into a ditch, he stood next to the shinobi and followed his gaze.

His eyes bulged.

"You understand now, Hatsuki-kun?" the merchant heard Orochimaru say next to him. Despite this, he couldn't take his eyes off the spectacle below. Suddenly, a hand was over his mouth and the cold sensation of a kunai on his throat gave him goose bumps.

Sharp pain. Warmth flowed from his neck.

Hatsuki's vision dimmed. A gentle push sent him tumbling into the ditch. The merchant's eyes took in a figure standing above him then shifted to his left and right. His wife's lifeless eyes responded from the left. His son's from the right. Hatsuki gurgled something incoherent.

 _Why?_

Blackness took him.

Orochimaru wore an amused expression as he watched Hatsuki take his last breath. A brown-haired shinobi appeared behind Orochimaru, waiting for the man to acknowledge his presence.

A couple of moments passed. "Status?"

"They put up a smokescreen and retreated the way they came. My men are keeping an eye on them until further orders. Do you want us to pursue?"

Orochimaru turned to face the scar-faced shinobi. "Shinkaru. The team must die. I can't have Konoha getting tipped off about our presence in the Land of Fire. Understand?" Orochimaru displayed his usual impassiveness, however Shinkaru detected a hint of iciness in his voice. A voice that said, "Don't disappoint me."

Shinkaru inclined his head. "It will be done."

Before he could leave, Orochimaru said, "Take Go and Ugawa with you. They're in reserve, but we can't afford to show mercy here. I will return to Otogakure and begin making preparations now that we have a forward operating base."

Shinkaru once more inclined his head before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

* * *

The enemy shinobi hadn't attacked the team, yet, preferring to sit back and observe. Asuma had tipped off the Genin to the impending battle, and as the group of shinobi ran through the forest, they readied themselves for battle.

 _What're they waiting for?_ Asuma thought to himself. These were always the worst moments in battle for him: the calm before the storm. Glancing at the Genin, Asuma knew they must've had some frayed nerves.

Ino was a nervous wreck. She could sense the approaching shinobi, but they weren't attacking. Shikamaru and Chouji looked like she felt. Both were sweating profusely and not just from the running.

As they ran, Ino caught Shikamaru and Chouji's eye. "You guys doing okay?"

Shikamaru gave a smartass smirk and opened his mouth to speak, until an explosive tag wrapped kunai shot through the foliage and exploded in mid air in the middle of the Konoha shinobi.

Ino and the team found themselves out of harm's way a dozen feet away. Splintered logs lay where they once stood.

"Here they come!" Asuma shouted.

Five masked shinobi joined their brown-haired leader as the enemies easily closed the distance between the two groups. With a quick hand gesture, one of the shinobi disappeared into the foliage.

 _Shit! There are two more enemy shinobi?!_ Ino cursed to herself as she jumped backwards and flung her shuriken at her opponent. The masked enemy easily dodged the projectiles with a casual lean.

Melee range. Ino's weakest area.

The masked man drew his kunai in the blink of an eye and lunged forward at Ino. She sidestepped the thrust, but felt a ton of bricks pound into her ribcage as the man readjusted his footing and kicked her hard with a backwards kick.

Ino felt the air escape her lungs when she landed hard on her back.

The masked shinobi was on her in a heartbeat, stabbing downwards towards her chest. Ino did the one thing that came to mind.

"Shintenshin no Jutsu!" Ino shouted, her hands formed in her family's hand seal. The enemy shinobi had no time to react. He was hit point blank with the jutsu, momentarily losing consciousness before Ino found herself looking down at her own body.

The shinobi's face morphed into a triumphant smirk as he rejoined his "comrades".

Ugawa dodged left and right, avoiding the thin, black line that was attempting to bind him. At the source of the thin line stood Shikamaru, who was panting and sweating.

Ugawa was ready to go in for the kill when Go appeared next to him.

"You do it?" Ugawa asked his comrade. Go simply nodded.

"Good, then we can team up he—" He didn't finish as a kunai slashed across his throat.

Shinkaru spun around and glared daggers at Go. Ino, in Go's body, smiled and briefly waved at Shikamaru.

 _Yes! We can do this!_ Ino encouraged herself. She then suddenly felt a sharp pain in her chest, blackness, and then a sensation of waking up from a dream.

Ino exhaled a breath from her own body.

"What the hell was that?" Ino murmured aloud as she sat up.

 _Was it that scar-faced shinobi who killed me? I couldn't even follow his movements!_

Ino shook her head to stave off feelings of nausea at the sensation of killing and being killed and jumped up to rejoin the battle.

When she returned to the forest clearing, she found Asuma fighting two shinobi: the enemy leader and one of the masked shinobi. Despite Asuma's combat prowess, two against one were difficult odds, and he was just avoiding getting killed.

Ino wanted to assist Asuma, but she had other problems. Her attention shifted to Shikamaru's opponent and threw two of her shuriken at the masked shinobi to draw his attention away from the Nara. The shinobi parried the shuriken easily with his kunai and was in front of Ino before she could react.

He wrapped his left hand around Ino's throat to keep her in place as he stabbed forward with his right. Ino could see it all in slow motion.

 _Shit. I don't wanna die here._ Ino's thoughts triggered an instinctual response from her body. Without thinking, she fumbled in her pouch, ripped out her last shuriken and deflected the shinobi's kunai. Without rhyme or reason, Ino slashed downwards onto the man's hand, forcing him to drop the kunai.

"Fuck!" the man yelled out in pain.

Ino grimaced— an imitation of a smirk— but knew her success was short-lived. The man's eyes narrowed in anger before Ino felt a sharp punch to the gut. The contents of her breakfast spilled onto the forest floor.

The shinobi grabbed Ino's neck with his wounded hand and applied even more pressure. Two seconds passed. Ino choked out incoherent sounds. Five seconds passed. Ino began to black out.

Before she could lose consciousness, the shinobi released her and jumped away. Ino crumpled to the ground. As her vision blurred, she saw Shikamaru standing in front of her, facing the masked shinobi.

A battle ensued between the two. From her position on the ground, Ino had a hard time deciphering the specifics, but she knew no matter what she told her body, it would not get up.

Shikamaru was panting heavily. A quick glance at Asuma saw him battling it out with the enemy shinobi leader and another masked shinobi. The two sides appeared evenly matched.

 _How troublesome…._ Shikamaru thought to himself while he tried in vain to pin his opponent. _Why couldn't I just be in Konoha, watching clouds?_

The shinobi's impressive attack cut his thoughts short.

"Kagemane no Jutsu!" Shikamaru shouted. His shadow extended outwards to try and trap the wounded shinobi, but he managed to evade the jutsu with his superior agility.

Suddenly, another shinobi Shunshined behind the Nara and sliced outwards to decapitate the boy. Shikamaru ducked and instantly used another Kagemane no Jutsu to grab the man's shadow.

 _Ha. Got you._ Shikamaru thought, before the man substituted with a nearby log.

"Wha—" Shikamaru started, before a set of hands burst from the ground below and held his legs in place. With his legs unmovable, Shikamaru attempted to form a hand seal. He felt his arms pulled back and pinned to his back by the other masked shinobi, who had appeared behind him after his capture.

 _Two on one? Shit, I stood no chance._ Shikamaru lamented. Quickly, however, he realized the two shinobi appeared identical.

 _No, the second shinobi was a shadow clone!_ Shikamaru understood much too late.

In slow motion, the original jumped forward and slashed downwards across the Genin's chest. Shikamaru howled out in agony and felt his body fall backwards until he hit the forest floor with a loud thump. As blood pooled out from under him, Shikamaru's glassy eyes stared up at the sky. A small smile touched his lips.

 _Would you look at that? It's such a cloudy day today. Makes me want to take a nap…_

Shikamaru's eyes glazed over.

"That's another one down," the original told his clone. The shadow clone gave him a skeptical look.

"What about the girl?"

"What about her?"

"Is she dead?"

The wounded shinobi scratched his head. "She should be. I'll go check and see…"

At that moment, an enormous explosion rocked the battlefield. Both shinobi spun around to find a crater where the two Jounin level shinobi had been battling.

"Shit! Shinkaru-san!" The two took off to assist their leader, giving a cursory glance back to Ino and Shikamaru's immobile bodies before they continued onward.

* * *

Asuma traded blows with the scarred shinobi. A deflected lunge. A blocked kick. It seemed no matter what he did to try and throw the shinobi off, it didn't work.

When he saw Shikamaru fighting two of the masked shinobi by himself, Asuma assumed the worst about Ino's fate. Anger boiled to the surface and the Jounin wanted nothing more than to destroy his opponent.

His chakra flared. The shinobi's confident smirk dropped and turned to a scowl when he noticed the chakra output.

Asuma Shunshined in a flash and viciously slashed at the back of the masked shinobi assisting his leader, striking gold and permanently incapacitating the man .

He tried to do the same with the leader, but felt resistance against his trench knives and discovered the scarred shinobi had blocked the blows with his arm guards. The shinobi's face was scrunched together in fury at losing another one of his men.

Asuma then gave the man a smirk.

 _Katon: Haisekisho!_ Asuma mentally shouted, spewing dark grey gunpowder into the face of the scarred shinobi.

His eyes widened in understanding at what the Sarutobi was doing.

It was too late.

With flint placed between his teeth, Asuma ignited the gunpowder. At the last second, he substituted with a nearby log to avoid the collateral damage.

The explosion was so powerful it rattled all of the bones in Asuma's body. Sound became muted temporarily as the Jounin struggled to regain his hearing. A crater was all that remained of where the shinobi had been fighting.

"Shinkaru-san!" Asuma shook his head when he heard the name called.

 _My hearing must be coming back_ , he thought to himself.

Frustration replaced the relief he felt when he saw a masked shinobi and his shadow clone checking on the condition of his scarred leader. The man was leaning against the trunk of a tree, panting heavily. Blood seeped from his left arm. His pinky and ring fingers had been blown off from the force of the blast.

 _He must've Shunshined or substituted at the very last second_ , Asuma thought while he regained his breath. Asuma had to steady himself to avoid collapsing, as jutsu like that just didn't come easy, after all. _He must've used his left arm to dull the force of the jutsu as much as he could. Very clever._

However, his musings were cut short at the implications of the arrival of the masked shinobi.

 _It can't be…_ Asuma mentally choked out. An alarming cry yanked his attention away from his thoughts.

 _Shit! I'm coming Chouji!_ Asuma mentally shouted, gathering himself and shooting off in the direction of the scream.

* * *

Ino quickly shielded her eyes with the back of her hand as sunlight streamed downwards from the canopy above.

As the young kunoichi sat up, she winced at the stabbing pain she felt in her ribs and throat.

 _I feel like I was hit by a ton of bricks_ , Ino thought. As she struggled to stand up, she tottered and ending up in a kneeling position. While she did this, a body lying next to her caught her attention.

Ino paused and scrutinized the body in more detail. Her heart jumped into her throat.

"Shikamaru?" Ino asked, unbelieving.

The body showed no signs of life. Ino desperately crawled over to the body on her hands and knees, ignoring the rocks and twigs that dug into her skin.

 _So cold._

Ino's first impression swept into her skull when she took the young man's hand and felt for a pulse.

There was no pulse to be found, and as Ino gave Shikamaru's body a once over, tears streamed down her face. His eyes were open and he wore a small smile. Ino followed his gaze and let out a bitter laugh.

 _You were always such a lazy bastard, you know that?_ Ino thought as she swiped the tears from her face. _Dreaming of cloud gazing again._

Ino placed the Nara's hand over his chest and did everything in her power not to burst into tears. Her thought of helping Chouji managed to pacify her to a degree. With an effort, Ino managed to stand on wobbly legs, and after a couple of unsteady steps, she headed in the direction of the ongoing battle.

Ino arrived to discover chaos. Nobody —friend or foe— had noticed her presence, too distracted they were by their personal battles.

Chouji struggled to fight against one of the masked shinobi. Deep cuts already lined his face, his clothes were ripped and bloodied, and he wore a look of desperation. In his left hand, he held a small transparent box with three colored pills.

Ino also noticed grooves carved into the ground, a direct result of Chouji's Nikudan Sensha. His opponent appeared unharmed, and when Ino saw the pills in Chouji's hand, she knew why he had resorted to such lengths: he was out of his league.

Asuma continued his struggle against the enemy leader and one of the masked shinobi. To Ino, it seemed as though he were a shade more skilled than the scar faced man, but with the assistance of his masked companion, the fight was evenly matched. The leader's left arm looked wounded, but Asuma also appeared more haggard.

That was when many things happened at once.

Ino stepped forward to offer assistance to Chouji, but a sharp pain flared in her broken ribcage and she saw white. Falling face first into the hard ground below, Ino glanced up from her position on the ground.

The enemy leader, Shinkaru, nodded his head and with a couple of quick Shunshins, had swapped places with Chouji's opponent.

The scar faced man smirked when he saw Chouji's eyes widen. Instantly, the three colored pills were down the Akimichi's throat and strengthening him to unbelievable heights.

Chouji charged the Jounin with his newfound strength, a flurry of shuriken opening his attack.

Ino saw Asuma fight two of the masked shinobi at once. His trench knives were a blur, creating an opening in one of the enemy's defenses.

 _Die!_ Asuma mentally shouted. Before he could deliver the fatal blow, a large crack opened in the ground beneath him, a pair of hands shooting out to grab his legs.

 _Don't think so_ , Asuma thought, jumping back out of the shinobi's reach. A series of water bullets also shot towards the Sarutobi from the shadow clone, which Asuma easily deflected with his chakra enhanced trench knives.

He wasn't prepared, however, for the ambush from the shinobi hiding in the canopy above.

The man's eyes opened wide in anticipation at the opening in Asuma's defenses. Long he had waited during the battle for this opportunity. He drew his katana and shot downwards.

A quick rustling was the only warning Asuma got as the hidden shinobi slashed downwards at him with his katana. Steel ripped through the back of his flak jacket, Asuma only having had time to contort his body to lessen the impact.

Asuma, despite the searing pain in his back, avoided an additional thrust from the shinobi and kicked him hard in the stomach.

The four shinobi glared at one another until an explosion shook the ground and blew apart nearby trees.

A scream pierced Asuma, but his attention was too focused on Chouji to pay it any heed.

The rotund Konoha shinobi's innards had been blown outwards by an explosive jutsu, one that was wielded by the scar-faced leader.

 _Was that Bakuton: Jiraiken?_ Asuma asked in disbelief.

Chouji was dead. No question about it. Asuma whipped his head around to find that Ino had released the scream. She lay motionless a few dozen feet away, but her mouth was open and tears continued unbidden down her face.

Asuma instantly Shunsined to her side, ignoring the screams of pain from his back. Ino continued staring at Chouji's body, not noticing Asuma's presence.

"Ino." Asuma kept one eye on the four shinobi and one on Ino. He didn't receive a response from the blonde haired girl. "Ino. We need to get out here. Now."

Still no response.

Asuma saw the scar faced shinobi give a quick word to one of his men, who Shunshined away before he tossed Chouji's body onto the ground in a heap. The masked shinobi returned a second later with Shikamaru's body in tow and tossed it on top of Chouji's.

The enemy leader turned his attention to Asuma and Ino.

"You have lost, Asuma Sarutobi. This is the only chance I'll give you to surrender here and now before my team and I wipe you and your student off this Earth."

Asuma scoffed at the offer. "What? So you can kill us later?"

Shinkaru nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders. "Our orders are to kill you, but maybe our master is feeling generous. He might just allow you to join us. You are, after all, a very talented shinobi."

Asuma responded by spitting in Shinkaru's direction.

As Shinkaru began his lecturing once more, Asuma formed a desperate plan of escape that would kill two birds with one stone. He glanced down at Ino, who hadn't said a word since she saw Chouji get killed.

 _This is really gonna hurt_ , Asuma grimaced.

 _Futon: Fujin no Jutsu_! he mentally shouted, forming the three necessary hand seals. A cloud of dust spewed from his mouth and shot towards the four shinobi.

Instantly, Asuma formed his next hand seals. _Katon: Gōen no Jutsu_! He knew he couldn't hold back his chakra with this attack. Pouring in as much chakra as he dared into the attack, the battlefield flashed with a brilliant white light.

* * *

Ino opened her eyes to discover she and Asuma alone in a covered grassy alcove situated deep in the forest.

The kunoichi lay facedown, the blades of grass tickling her nose. Making an effort to roll over, Ino cried out in pain. Her ribs felt as though they were being stabbed by glass. She didn't know how many ribs she had broken, but she was in rough shape, not to mention the condition her throat was in.

She finally managed to sit in a seated position, and then took a shaky breath while scanning her surroundings.

Asuma leaned up against a nearby tree, his breath labored and heavy. The rest of the forest looked nondescript, the same as what they encountered during the battle. Everything was silent, no sounds coming from the birds and the cicadas the shinobi had heard before.

Ino looked over at Asuma and grew worried. He was suffering, no doubt, from chakra exhaustion. As she gazed worriedly at the Jounin, she knew the two of them had to come up with a plan to make it back to Konoha. But what could they do?

Her attention shifted back to Asuma when the Jounin beckoned her to move closer. Ino obliged, albeit slowly and painfully.

"What is it sensei? Have you found us a way to get back to Konoha?"

Asuma simply nodded and handed Ino a scroll. Red Kanji on the top of the scroll read, "Emergency only".

"What does this do, exactly?" Ino questioned her sensei.

"Open it and pour a bit of chakra into it," Asuma simply said.

Ino did so, and a brown and white hawk was summoned from a cloud of smoke. The majestic bird looked at Asuma calmly for a few moments as the man strapped a scroll to the bird's talons. The hawk then spread its wings and took to the skies.

"Is that a messenger bird?" Ino queried. Asuma nodded before clearing his throat.

"That hawk has a fix on our position through a unique chakra signature contained in the scroll," Asuma explained. "Once that hawk finds the Hokage, he'll know of the peril we're in and where to send his ANBU."

"And what about the enemy shinobi?" Ino was almost too afraid to ask.

Asuma beckoned Ino to sit down next to him. "I don't know if that last attack killed them all, but it at least threw them off our trail for now," he said as Ino took another shaky breath and grimaced in pain as she sat down next to her sensei.

"And Chouji and Shikamaru?" Ino muttered in a whisper.

Asuma clenched his jaw and remained silent, unable to offer any words of condolence. How could he? He had no right to do so.

The Jounin heard a quiet sniffle from the blonde shinobi. Guilt consumed him.

Ino flinched when she felt a comforting hand on her shoulder. A sob escaped the young shinobi that once more broke the silence.

Minutes passed.

"Are we going to die like Shikamaru and Chouji, Asuma-sensei?"

"No. We won't, Ino. I'll make sure of it."

"What're we going to do now?"

Asuma stared ahead, eyes burning with a mixture of guilt, sadness and renewed determination.

 _I will not let her die as well._

"We will patch ourselves up and travel towards Konoha. And we will continue your training."

* * *

A white and brown hawk glided along the air currents. In its talons was an emergency message to Konoha's Hokage from Asuma Sarutobi.

The bird's tranquil passage through the sky was interrupted when a huge fireball shot threw the air and instantly eviscerated the bird and message it was carrying.

A thin trail of smoke from the impact site trailed down to the forest floor below, where a shinobi stood with his hands outstretched. He smirked behind his mask and let his arms fall to the sides.

"Good job, Daichi," a voice behind him said.

The masked shinobi turned to face his captain, who grimaced as he held his amputated left arm.

"Thanks, Shinkaru-san."

A pause.

"Don't you want to get some backup first before we find the Konoha shinobi?"

Shinkaru shook his head. "I won't return to Orochimaru-sama empty handed. He'd surely kill us both if he found out the two had escaped."

He pointed in a northerly direction with his uninjured hand. "We can find them if we head this way. Come on, if we hurry, it shouldn't take us more than a few days to run into them."

Daichi nodded his head as the duo began their trek through the forest.

 _Only two of us remain_ , the man reflected. He was surprised at the fight the Genin team had put up, but that Asuma Sarutobi…. The man was a damn monster.

As Shinkaru walked ahead of him, Daichi's eyes fell on the man's back, trailing down to his missing arm.

It had been a close thing, that last attack from the Sarutobi, Daichi reflected. Only he and Shinkaru had any sort of time to shunshin out of the way, and even then, the team's captain had still lost an arm in the ordeal.

Daichi had been fortunate. He had already been standing outside the explosion's epicenter when the collaboration jutsu was cast.

Immediately after the attack, with a bloody stump for an arm, Shinkaru had pushed the two survivors several miles south, "Because they will surely send a messenger hawk to Konoha to ask for assistance," the Jounin had assured him.

His predictions had been dead accurate. After a few hours of scouring the skies, they hit gold: a brown and white messenger hawk had glided in their direction. Shinkaru had tasked Daichi with sniping the bird out of the sky with one of his fire jutsus.

With no message reaching Konoha, the two Leaf shinobi were now exposed and vulnerable, with no help coming in the near future.

 _Not to mention that Shinkaru is out for blood_ , Daichi thought as heard a grumble from the Jounin. Their whole team had underestimated the Leaf shinobi, and it cost them, Shinkaru most of all.

Daichi wore a dark expression as he pushed aside a branch.

 _They will not live the week._

* * *

Jutsu list:

Kawarimi no Jutsu: Substitution Jutsu

Shunshin no Jutsu: Body Flicker Technique

Shintenshin no Jutsu: Mind Body Switch Technique

Katon: Haisekisho: Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning

Nikudan Sensha: Human Bullet Tank

Bakuton: Jiraiken: Explosion Release: Landmine Fist

Futon: Fujin no Jutsu: Wind Release: Dust Cloud Technique

Katon: Gōen no Jutsu: Fire Release: Great Flame Technique


	5. Chapter 5

Here is Chapter 5 for you guys. I hope you enjoy!

Also, I am going back through Chapters 2 and 3 to do some polishing. Like adding some additional characterization, clean up the language, etc.

See you next time!

* * *

A splash echoed throughout the hollow cavern.

"Again."

Silence soon followed, interrupted by the soft pitter-patter of footsteps tapping the surface of a large pool of water.

A female voice cried out in alarm, followed by another large splash.

Asuma rubbed his face in exasperation before peering out at the pool to find Ino's head bobbing up and down in the water.

"Do it again," Asuma said to the girl.

Ino made no complaint and climbed to the edge of the pool before repeating her trek across the surface of the water, one unsteady step at a time, ripples spreading across the water with each step.

When Ino tottered and flailed her arms about in panic, Asuma sighed before clearing his throat to catch the girl's attention. The girl managed to regain her balance and turn her attention to the Jounin.

"Remember the tree and leaf floating exercises, Ino," Asuma reminded the blonde. "Let the chakra spread evenly across the bottom of your feet. Have confidence in yourself. You can do it."

Ino regarded Asuma's appearance as he sat, lotus-style, on top of the water at the far end of the pool. Haggard was the first word that came to mind. Dark circles shadowed his eyes and his face had a gaunt, hungry look. His beard was a patchwork of hair and burns — a reminder of their recent battle.

But Asuma's eyes glinted with focus and a hint of steel, taking in every detail of Ino's training with a vigilance the young girl hadn't seen from the man before.

Ino's gaze took in the Jounin's expression, scrunched with concentration and anticipation. With a start, the Yamanaka realized he was waiting for her response.

Ino gave the man a short nod before returning her attention to the water before her. While she attempted to focus her mind on evenly spreading the chakra across her feet, her thoughts continued to drift.

She knew Asuma was still suffering from chakra exhaustion since the battle a couple of days ago, and she herself felt the occasional stabbing pain in her ribs when she shifted her body in certain ways. Her throat was a pulsing pain that came in waves.

Once the duo had discovered the cavern a few hours walk south of Ohira, Asuma had immediately wrapped and healed her wounds to the best of his ability, and then went about redoubling Ino's training efforts with a hungry and desperate intensity.

Asuma had become, in such a brief period, a dichotomy Ino couldn't understand. Gone was the lazy and carefree attitude that had been a standard of the Jounin. Yet his shoulders sloped downwards under an invisible weight and an underlying fragility had come to the surface of their interactions Ino would be remiss not to notice. But yet the Jounin was also resolute in his expectations, and unyielding in his training. Ino shook her head at the contradiction Asuma had changed into.

Her training had started with a tree climbing exercise, with Ino applying chakra to the soles of her feet to scale nearby tree trunks. Asuma had the kunoichi try again and again and again without pause. He had remained aloof during the exercises, apt to handing out instructions only when she was truly stumped, but preferring to watch her puzzle her own way through her problems.

On the night of their first day spent recuperating in the cavern, with aching wounds and all, Ino had mastered tree climbing. Her sensei had demanded complete mastery, requiring her to both run and walk up and down the tree, and stand completely still on the trunk and not waver in her concentration while he hurled insults and screamed at her. He also had her perform her daily katas just to be absolutely positive, but Asuma's attempts at breaking her focus went unsuccessful when she succeeded in practicing her katas for an entire hour. When he had called her down to the ground below, she thought she saw a small smile grace the man's face, but a blink later and it was gone.

The air around the two hadn't been the same since the fighting, and the two shinobi hadn't spoken of the incident. _Probably so that the bad memories will stay away_ , Ino ventured.

She snorted at the admission. Because not talking about it would make it go away. Right.

A crushing sadness had skulked around Ino ever since her loss. It hugged the corners of her consciousness, hiding away under the rocks she slept on and behind the trees she trained on, peering out at her with greedy eyes as it waited for her to drop her defenses.

Ino had treated her desire to improve herself as though it were a flyswatter, swatting away the vestiges of the sadness when they crept too close.

 _All it takes is one moment of weakness_ , the creature reminded her each time it slinked away.

Ino inhaled and exhaled, forcing the unpleasant thoughts away, focusing instead on perfecting her water walking.

 _One step at a time_ , Ino thought to herself, though she wasn't sure if she was referring to the recovery of her crumbling emotional state or the training before her.

The Yamanaka clenched her teeth and stared ahead at her sensei. No thought entered Ino's mind except the desire to succeed.

Her intensity for her training was a new feeling. She wasn't sure, however, if it was a genuine feeling, or rather a defense mechanism against the crushing guilt she felt over her own weakness.

 _I just laid there and did nothing_. The thought snuck its way in before Ino realized and the young girl berated herself not for the first time. She shook the thought from her mind with a quick headshake. Now was not the time for self-wallowing.

She took a step. Then another. Three steps turned into six. Six steps turned into ten. Ino's confidence grew with each step until she stood before Asuma, who proudly looked at her before a flash of guilt swam across his face and he averted his gaze.

 _Don't look at me like that_ , Ino silently pleaded with the Jounin. A sad expression pulled her confident smirk down into a tight frown and she turned her face away from him.

Neither spoke as a strained silence stretched between them.

Asuma's look was gone as soon as it came, however, and the man gingerly stood and pointed to the opposite shore where they had made camp. "Come on. Let's get something to eat. While we eat, I have something to show you that you can add to your training regimen."

Ino nodded and followed alongside her sensei who now limped along the surface of the water.

* * *

"What is this for?" Ino asked as she held up a nondescript slip of paper. She was unimpressed. This was supposed to help with her training?

Asuma wore a thin smile and pointed to the paper. "Pour some chakra into it."

The Yamanaka obliged and immediately the paper liquefied into a damp pulp. Asuma raised an eyebrow. "A water affinity, huh? Can't say I'm too surprised, to be honest."

The Jounin paused before pulling out a slip of parchment and writing down some notes. He handed the slip to Ino.

"Suiton: Teppodama," Ino read aloud. "And it uses the tiger hand seal." She looked up from the parchment and gave Asuma a quizzical look. "Why can't you just show me how to perform the jutsu?"

The man turned from the blonde's gaze and peered over the pool of water with a vacant expression. Ino found herself following his gaze before she heard a soft sigh escape the Jounin.

"I could show you, but I think you can improve yourself faster if you start learning now how to manipulate your water jutsu," Asuma said. "It's a good precursor to shape manipulation, after all."

Ino paused and took that information in. "And how exactly do I manipulate the shape of my water jutsu?"

Asuma glanced at Ino out of the corner of his eye before returning his attention to the pool of water. "You don't need to worry about that right now, as shape manipulation is rather advanced," Asuma said. "That will be something you will have to discover on your own. Besides," Asuma paused. "My two elements are wind and fire. You would need to find someone else to teach you the technicalities of manipulating the shape of water jutsu."

Ino frowned and stared down at the jutsu scrawled on the paper. "But," Ino found Asuma looking down at her with a raised finger. "I do know that you need to learn to internally knead your chakra."

"Knead?" Ino wasn't sure she understood.

Asuma answered the girl with a question of his own. "You know of the Yamata Bakery, correct?" Ino nodded.

"Good. Then you've seen the family in the early morning working the moist flour to make into dough," Asuma continued.

Ino thought for a moment as memories of the happy family came to her. There was Old Man Yamata, a pillar of the village who would sneak Ino a loaf of freshly baked bread whenever she walked past; his wife, Ayako, who smiled and pretended not to notice her husband's antics; and their son, Jun, a hardworking 20-year-old who was looking to take over the family business in a few years.

She had watched the family work their homemade flour on more than one occasion, staring in open fascination as the trio shaped the dough.

 _So the process is the same_ , Ino concluded.

"And how do I do that with my chakra?" Ino found herself asking the Jounin.

Asuma threw up his hands. "Look, I just know what I've heard and read. I've never learned how to actually do it."

The blonde dropped her gaze back down to the scrawled jutsu. "Looks like I have some work to do…"

"Nature manipulation is going to be added to your normal training regimen from here on out," Asuma told the girl as he began walking away from her. "In the meantime…"

She folded the parchment and stuffed it into her pouch. "I know, I know," she mumbled. "Physical training…"

* * *

Ino lay panting on her back as sweat dripped down her face, her purple blouse sticking to her skin. Her arms were ungracefully sprawled to her sides, which screamed out in protest anytime Ino tried to move them.

"Come on, Ino, we have to continue," Ino heard Asuma say from somewhere above her.

Ino didn't answer, but just simply lay there while she caught her breath. She then felt a strong hand slide into hers and yank her up. Ino nearly fell down, her legs trembling, but she kept herself upright and stared ahead at the Jounin.

Asuma took a few steps away from the Yamanaka and settled into a fighting stance, motioning for her to do the same.

Legs and arms burning, she somehow managed to mimic the Jounin.

Asuma commenced the spar with a quick jab, which Ino deflected, followed up with a heavy uppercut. Ino's body screamed out in agony as she flipped away from the attack and landed lightly on her feet.

Ino charged forward as fast as she dared before she stopped and faked a kick to the Jounin's ribcage. Asuma didn't take the bait and effortlessly caught the left hook she tried to sneak in. Ino spun and disentangled herself from the Jounin's grasp with a quick kick to the head that he swayed to avoid.

Asuma shot forward once more and began a flurry of attacks that Ino was hard pressed to follow. Every time the Jounin found a hole in her defenses, he would tap the area with a light touch, showing Ino how to effectively adjust.

 _He's even faster than yesterday_ , Ino noticed as she felt a tap below her throat. The man had begun sparring with Ino a couple of hours after they had found the cavern the day before, weaving in the sessions with her physical training. Adjusting his speed to hers, Asuma had made sure to stay just a little faster than her in order to help her acclimate to faster combat speeds.

After several exhausting minutes, Asuma raised a hand to stop the melee.

"That'll do for right now. Let's take a break."

Ino was happy to oblige, and after following the Jounin back to the crackle of the campfire, she let her body fall to the ground, before managing to prop herself up with her elbows.

While she was recuperating, she watched her sensei move about the camp, tossing scrounged dry branches and pieces of wood into the campfire before limping over to check their supplies. A cigarette hung loosely from his lips, unlit, rolling this way and that when the man grumbled to himself.

"How long do you think it'll be until the messenger hawk reaches Konoha?" Ino asked the Sarutobi. Asuma paused his work and pondered the question.

"Hmmm…. If the bird flew true, it should've already reached the Hokage."

"What're we going to do in the meantime?" Ino asked, a question that had been on her mind since they had taken refuge in the cavern. "Don't you think we should be heading back to Konoha?"

Asuma paused a moment longer before inclining his head. "Yeah, you're right. I'm still not 100 percent yet, but we should leave in the morning. The closer we get to Konoha, the more comfortable I'll feel."

An uncomfortable silence reinserted itself between the two shinobi. Ino shifted from elbow to elbow while Asuma refused to meet her eyes.

 _It's just not the same as it was_ , Ino thought sadly as she stood from her seated position.

"Chakra exercises, Sensei?" Ino queried the man. A stiff nod was returned.

* * *

Burning.

 _What was that smell?_ A sulfuric burning that stung the insides of Ino's nose was the sensation that jolted Ino from her slumber.

She wasn't in the cavern.

She stared up in confusion at the sky above her, at the blacks and greys that mixed together to create a swirling picture of drabness.

 _Where am I?_

Ino looked to her right and left and saw nothing but concrete rubble in every direction. As Ino's senses slowly came back to her, she felt a dull throbbing pain poking her in the back. Ino shifted and pulled out a broken plank of wood from beneath her and stared at it in confusion.

Her eyes shifted from the hard grain of the wood to the swath of destruction that stood in front of her. Buildings were splintered and broken beyond recognition and the cobblestone walkways that lay beneath her and stretched endlessly in every which direction were cracked and irreparable.

 _Where am I?_ Ino asked herself again, looking about wildly as she rose to her feet.

A young voice captured her attention when it echoed across the empty city. "Ino! Hey Ino! This way!"

Ino took a hesitant step towards the voice, not trusting herself, before plunging forward and speeding up to a light jog. The sounds of her breathing as she jogged further into the city were hollow, almost ethereal. The voice that called out to her from before now sounded even louder.

"Ino! Over here!"

Ino picked up her pace, and the buildings on each side of the kunoichi began to blur by, an eerie familiarity about the city settling its way into the Yamanaka's subconscious as she did so. Just as she was on the cusp of realizing where she was, the buildings on either side of her opened into what Ino assumed was once a beautiful market square.

Market stalls sat empty and unmanned on Ino's right and left, the canopy on each of their awnings torn and flapping in the slight breeze. A fountain sat in the center of the square, broken and decrepit, its spout long since torn away. A statue accompanying the fountain that had once stood proud atop its stone plinth was now no more, two small feet a reminder of what once was.

Standing next to the former statue was a boy who leaned against the lip of the fountain and hummed a tune under his breath. He had his back to Ino and didn't turn to look at her upon her approach. He wore a beige t-shirt with black shorts and shinobi sandals and his jet black hair was pulled into a short ponytail.

"Glad you could join me, Ino," the boy's chipper voice said when Ino stood only a few steps away.

"Who are you?"

The boy ignored the question and pointed up to a spot above the skyline of the buildings. "That might give you a better idea," he simply said.

Ino followed the boy's finger and gaped. Fog that had pressed down upon the city like a blanket and prevented any clear visibility was pushed away by the boy's simple statement before four large stone structures shown off in the distance. Ino fell to her knees in disbelief.

The Hokage monument.

 _Of course. The familiarity,_ Ino realized. The city was Konoha, but not a Konoha like she remembered. It was completely empty. She took in the details of the market in a new light and recognized the Yamata Bakery. Beside it once stood the city's main bank and next to that was once a weapons shop.

Ino heard a small giggle from the boy and turned her attention to the figure before recoiling in shock and scrambling away.

Her stare took in a featureless face. Or more accurately, the boy simply had no face. Where eyes, nose and a mouth should've been was a smooth expanse of skin. As the boy continued giggling, it was a completely unnatural experience for Ino, who sat back in stunned silence.

"Wh-Who are you?" Ino eventually stammered.

"I am whoever you want me to be," the boy cryptically answered.

Ino stood up with a confused expression etched onto her face. The boy seemed to be amused by her reaction, as he again let out a giggle.

"Silly girl," he began. "I'm whatever your nightmares make me out to be."

Ino's brows furrowed as a flash of irritation hit the girl at being played with by the featureless boy. "Cut the shit and just give me some straight answers," she demanded.

The boy had no face, but Ino could detect a distinct change in his demeanor and his countenance most certainly would have morphed into one of bitter disappointment had he worn a face.

Before her stare, a mouth emerged from the boy's skin, followed shortly by a nose and as his irises took on a brown pigment, Ino gasped and turned her head away.

"What's wrong, Ino?" the boy mocked her, "can't stand seeing the face of the boy you let die?"

Ino forced herself to look at the boy, no — Shikamaru. And he stared at her with a contemptuous look hewn into the face of a boy she once called one of her best friends.

"You did this, you know, you stupid girl," Shikamaru continued, unaware of her thoughts. "It was your weakness that did this. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been killed. It's all. Your. Fault."

"But I'm training now to become stronger…" Ino protested weakly and looked away.

"Great good that does us now." A new voice emerged and Ino found herself staring into the eyes of Chouji. He, too, like Shikamaru looked at her with eyes of disappointment. The boy who didn't have a hateful bone in his body now hated Ino for the same weakness she herself hated.

"I didn't mean for you both to end up dead…" Ino said. "I-I thought I was strong enough to take on the challenge of being a kunoichi."

"YOU WERE WRONG!"

A thousand different voices echoed across the city. Echoed in Ino's ears. Echoed in her heart. Her soul.

Ino felt a strong hand clamp onto her wrist and she turned to find a pair of hollow eyes peering _into_ her. The creature wore Shika's face, but its eyes spoke to the sadness Ino had been attempting to keep at bay since she had lost two of her best friends. A hand gripped Ino's other wrist and a faux Chouji was upon her.

More hands shot out and pulled at Ino, at her hair, which was pulled and pulled until she felt a sharp pain as the strands were ripped from her scalp. Ino felt iron hands yank her legs out from under her, and the ground came up to meet her.

Her clothes were torn to shreds as hands, too many to count, clawed at her bare skin. But what was most disturbing for the girl was not the physical pain, but rather the sound of their voices.

 _It's all your fault_ , they chorused in guttural voices.

Ino wanted to plug her ears, to drown out the sound that reminded her of her failures, but the weight of the dream wights prevented her from doing so.

"Is the guilt too much, Ino?" an unnatural voice asked.

As she was slowly crushed under the weight of her own sadness, she stared ahead at the voice to discover a horrifying sight.

The boy was no longer Shika or Chouji, but was both. One half of his body rounded out in the rotund fashion Chouji was known for while the other was the skinniness of Shika. The face was cut down the middle with one boy's features on each side. The figure spurted blood from a gaping hole in his stomach, his entrails hanging like meat from a butcher's hook. Blood from a diagonal slash wound from shoulder to hip drenched the figure's beige shirt.

"Look at what you helped create!" the Shika/Chouji figure said as it skulked forward.

The chants of the dream wights grew louder with each step the boy took until they reached a fever pitch.

 _It's all your fault_ ….

The last thing Ino saw before she felt her consciousness fade was the look of hatred her best friends wore on their faces.

Ino's breath hitched when she launched herself from her cot. Her whole body was hot and instinctually her hand softly wrapped around her sore throat as a reminder that she was still breathing.

Panicked, deep breaths soon followed, and Ino found herself standing over the cavern's pool of water trying to push down the rising bile in her stomach.

 _It was just a nightmare_ , Ino had to remind herself. A memory of the boy's face flashed before her eyes and Ino was soon retching over the surface of the water. Her hand fumbled in her pouch for something to wipe her mouth with, but all she felt was the crumble of parchment in her shaky hand. Bringing it before her face, Ino remembered the water jutsu Asuma had written down.

Ino stared at the paper a moment before plopping herself down onto the surface of the water with a heavy sigh.

 _Sleep won't come for the rest of the night, anyways. Might as well put the time to good use._

* * *

"How old are you, Daichi?"

Daichi blinked a moment at the unexpected question before pushing his way though the thick, green foliage. _What is he up to this time?_ He glanced ahead at Shinkaru, who continued onwards, oblivious to the chunnin's thoughts.

"I'll be 18 in a couple of months," Daichi found himself telling the Jounin.

"Hmm," was all the man said.

"Why do you ask?" Daichi inquired, probing the man for information. When he received no response, he sighed. _Why was it always the same with Shinkaru?_ Daichi asked himself not for the first the six months since he served under the Jounin, the man was aloof at best and reticent at worst.

The pair had been cautious since they began their hunt a couple of days ago. They didn't sprint and jump through the branches of the trees above, but preferred to stay grounded to conceal their presence and conserve energy.

Daichi thought he was still in relatively good physical condition, but Shinkaru had needed time to recover, and the chunnin didn't delude himself into thinking he could take on Asuma Sarutobi single-handedly when they would discover both he and his student.

 _If we ever find them_ , Daichi silently amended.

Shinkaru had insisted they would find the two Leaf shinobi, but that was two days ago. Daichi grew impatient with their little trek through the forest. The trees stretched forever beyond them: a sea of green. With no end to the emerald, Daichi would be lying if he said he didn't miss the feel of sand beneath his feet.

In many respects, Suna had been home all his life, the wind battered stucco homes a comfort to Daichi ever since he was a boy. He remembered the cold touch of his family's house as he lay in bed at night, the warm embraces from his mother, the musky smell of his father.

But that was so long ago, before the war came and took them away.

Since then, everything about Suna had changed. The people became harder; the other kids at the orphanage weren't friendly. The war had not only torn families apart, but transformed Suna into a cesspool of misery. When Daichi graduated from the shinobi academy at age 12, he sought freedom from that place.

He found the answer five long years later.

It was intended to be a simple mission. Deliver a sealed scroll to their comrades on the border of the Land of Wind and Amegakure to the northeast. They were supposed to be spying on the activities of the furtive shinobi, but upon arrival of Daichi's team, the spies were dead and his team was ambushed. It was a slaughter because of a certain brown-haired jounin named Shinkaru.

As Daichi had watched his comrades get eviscerated, he felt nothing. No pain. No sadness. Nothing.

Shinkaru had offered him the opportunity to excommunicate from Suna and join under the banner of the Sound ninja. He took it up in a heartbeat.

"So not even 18 yet and part of a revolution," came Shinkaru's unbidden commentary. "Already earning yourself quite the reputation of notoriety there, aren't we, Daichi?"

"If you're just going to poke fun at me, then I'll stop answering your questions," Daichi said sullenly. The Jounin had always poked fun at his teammates, but Daichi had always been on the receiving end of the worst.

Shinkaru guffawed, a clear and warm sound that sharply contrasted with the man's solemn appearance. "Oh stop sulking, Daichi, you know I only jest." The man wiped a tear from his face with his uninjured hand. "You should learn to find humor in these types of situations, otherwise you might find yourself a bitter man one day."

The chunnin felt the corners of his lips turn upwards before memories of his dead teammates etched another frown back onto his face. A flash of irritation hit Daichi at the Jounin's flippancy and he found himself glowering at Shinkaru's back before he was saying, "And what kind of humor can be had in this situation? Four teammates dead? Our quarry escaped? Remind me why I should be smiling."

Daichi was too engrossed in his roiling emotions to see Shinkaru sneak him a peek. Shinkaru suddenly raised his hand to stop the duo before pointing out ahead of them as Daichi pulled up next to the Jounin.

"The current situation _is_ dire for us," Daichi heard the Jounin say quietly next to him. He saw Shinkaru arm himself with a kunai before the man turned his attention to him. His playful demeanor was doffed. It was time for battle. "However, it's your response to the situation that determines what kind of person you are. We could both sit here and wallow in our misery and anger until the end of days, but what does that accomplish? I prefer to direct those emotions in more productive ways, or aim them at certain enemies." The Jounin's eyes gleamed with a touch of malice.

With that chastisement, Shinkaru silently crept forward into an open glade, Daichi close on his heels. The sylvan space had no distinguishing features, except for the entrance to a cavern that jutted outwards, its black maw cold and uninviting to the duo.

As they tiptoed closer to the cavern's entrance, Daichi and his captain shared a look. _Stay sharp_.

With a quick motion of Shinkaru's uninjured hand, the two were inside the cavern and standing at combat position…. only to find nothing. No animals. No shinobi. Nothing.

Daichi cleared the cavern before growling in frustration.

"Stop your whining and come look at this." Shinkaru was standing over a small dirt mound and sifting through it with his boot.

Daichi was making his way over to the Jounin before he heard the man let out a small cheer. Daichi could see why. Just under the small dirt mound was a pile of smoldering embers.

A wave of anger coursed through Daichi's veins as he took in the sight. He and Shinkaru could finally get their vengeance! "…They couldn't have been here more than a few hours ago," Shinkaru was saying, pulling him from his thoughts. "With the way they're traveling, I have a feeling I know where they'll be heading."

Daichi could just simply nod at the Jounin's words. As he glanced down at the naked blade in his hands, he noticed how his hands were trembling in anticipation.

 _What's going on with me?_ The chunnin wondered.

But just as quickly, unbidden, a memory of him ripping his ninjato across the young black-haired boy's chest came to the forefront of his mind. He, as arbiter, had watched the life get yanked from the eyes of the young boy. What struck him the most was the total look of surprise on the boy's face right before he had taken the slash. He must've been so confident that no harm would come to him, that someone his age wouldn't face the grim reaper until he was much older….

The pain in his left hand flared up momentarily at the memory, where that blonde haired girl had stabbed him with her shuriken. He covered the bandaged hand with his right and sucked in a deep breath.

A quick touch on his shoulder woke Daichi from his trance. Shinkaru gazed at him, a touch of concern reflected in his grey eyes, before the man retracted his hand.

"You ready to head out?"

Daichi sheathed his blade and nodded before he found his voice. "Yeah, let's do this."

* * *

Ino immediately noted the roundabout route the duo was taking to return to Konoha. Unlike their way up to Ohira, Asuma had opted to avoid the paved roads and instead stuck to a southeasterly path through the wilderness. When Ino put her question to the Jounin, the unlit cigarette twitched in the man's lips.

"I don't know about you, but I'd rather avoid fighting more enemy shinobi at the moment," Asuma said. "I'm acting under the assertion that at least one of those shinobi survived the blast and are actively pursuing us."

Ino accepted the information and mulled it over. Her sensei was correct. Both she and Asuma weren't in peak physical condition and evading any prolonged battle would be advantageous as they inched closer to the safety of Konoha's walls.

 _Speaking of physical condition…_

As she trudged through the brush next to her sensei, Ino occasionally rubbed her sore arms and legs, a result of their latest sparring session.

Asuma had informed Ino upon embarking from the cavern that their sparring sessions would continue largely unhindered, although they wouldn't go at each other quite so hard with respect to the amount of traveling they would be doing on a daily basis.

Still, the matches were intense, and Asuma's no nonsense attitude he displayed in the cavern extended to their return trip. Ino had taken advantage of the strenuous training and noticed a distinct improvement in her taijutsu. Her wrists didn't hurt quite as much from blocking Asuma's punches, which Asuma assured her that he wasn't holding back his strength on. She had also slowly gotten used to Asuma's adjusted combat speed, who told her that during their spars he was now going at about 60 to 70 percent of his normal combat speed.

Additionally, she had greatly improved her Suiton: Teppodama in the last day and a half and was able to willfully control the quantity and intensity through the amount of chakra she poured into the attack.

Nature manipulation was another matter entirely. While she understood the concept of kneading her chakra, putting it to practice had proven difficult at this point. Asuma told her that should she ever master water manipulation, she wouldn't just be able to control the quantity and intensity of her water jutsu, but their form as well.

When the path the duo was treading opened into a glade with a pond situated in the center, Asuma stopped the two for a short break. While Ino filled her waterskin, she stared out at the surface of the water. She could see ripples spreading across when the sunfish just beneath the surface nibbled at the mosquitos hovering just above the water.

The sight reminded Ino of lessons she and her classmates had about the four Hokages, but more specifically about the second Hokage, the Nidaime, known as the strongest water user in history.

"Sensei?"

"Hmmm? What is it Ino?"

"Could you tell me more about the Nidaime's water jutsu prowess? When I was in the academy, we were just given a general overview of each of the Hokage and if I am going to be a water jutsu user, I thought it might be important to know more about what he could do."

Asuma quaffed his waterskin before filling it again with more water then clipping the container to his belt. "You know that the Sandaime was his student, I assume?" When Ino nodded, the Jounin plopped down at the edge of the pond and lit a cigarette. He patted a space to his right and Ino eased down next to him.

"Where to begin…" Asuma trailed off. "You should know that while water jutsu is the most versatile element of the five, it comes with its adherent disadvantages. The most common disadvantage is that the most powerful water jutsu require a nearby source of water to fuel the user having to perform the jutsu. Well, it just so happens the Nidaime didn't need to abide by that requirement…"

"How the hell was he able to do that?" Ino jumped in, perplexed. "To perform water jutsu like that he would…" she trailed off as she began to piece it together.

"—need to knead his chakra, and then use all of his own chakra to generate the water jutsu," Asuma finished for the girl, a tight smirk on his face.

"He must have been a chakra juggernaut to pull that off," Ino said, her mind spinning.

"Stories tell of the Nidaime being able to flood an entire battlefield…while in the desert sands of Sunagakure," Asuma said, a hint of amusement dancing in his eyes as he took in Ino's expression.

"I really would have loved to see that."

"Wouldn't we both." When Asuma spoke smoke drifted from his mouth. He continued to sit there for a few minutes, pensive, a wistful expression written across his face. He then sighed before standing and shouldering his pack, Ino mirroring him.

With a quick inventory check, the two restarted their journey without another word.

Ino had noticed soon after their escape from the unknown shinobi that her sensei was prone to lapses of silence as he muddled over his invisible demons. He tried to hide the pain from her, but Ino wasn't her father's child for nothing. It was the eyes that gave him away, as it did with the vast majority of people, her father had always told her. Controlling the muscles in your face was magnitudes easier than masking the emotions flitting across your eyes.

So Ino patiently waited for Asuma to begin speaking again about the Nidaime as they pushed through the underbrush.

The barbed bushes pulled and scratched at anything they could get their branches on, including skin and hair. Not for the first time that day, Ino reached back and stroked her pale hair, feeling the rough and uneven edges at where she had hacked away the long flowing hair.

The move came following the last sparring session, when Asuma was throwing a hook that Ino had twisted to avoid. Instead of following up his attack with a leg sweep as she expected, Asuma reached out and grabbed her long ponytail when it flipped in front of his face. A quick yank later and Ino found herself on her back and at the mercy of her sensei.

He had released her and didn't say anything, but he didn't have to. Ino got the message.

Ino sighed dejectedly when she thought of what Sasuke might say when he saw her new hair. Not to mention Sakura….

Ino came up short then, causing her to pause mid-step. Flashes of her dead friends pushed away her thoughts of Sasuke and Sakura, and Ino felt her face flush in shame. Asuma, she noticed, had stopped ahead and had turned to peer at her.

"Everything okay, Ino?"

"Yeah, sorry, I just found my mind wandering a bit, that's all," Ino assured her sensei, pulling up next to him. Asuma accepted the information with a short nod and they continued on their way, Ino falling into step.

"The Sandaime actually knew both the Shodai and the Nidaime when he was a boy learning under the two," Ino heard Asuma say. Ino had previously learned as much, but she didn't say anything and let her sensei continue.

"While the Shodai was considered a god amongst shinobi, able to use his Mokuton to shape the earth and any battlefield he chose, the same could be said with the Nidaime and his water jutsu.

"If he was so powerful, how did he die?" Ino asked. "I was told the Nidaime was killed on the battlefield."

Asuma looked at Ino with a sad frown. "Both the Shodai and Nidaime died on the battlefield. The Nidaime died years after his brother when he sacrificed his life to allow his team to escape when he acted as decoy against Kumogakure's elite Kinkaku Force."

Ino frowned and turned away from her sensei. _More death. It seems like we are doomed to repeat our mistakes._

Ino was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't notice Asuma's absence next to her. He called out to catch her attention and Ino turned to regard him. "What is it sensei, shouldn't we ke—"

Asuma held one finger to his lips as he pointed ahead of Ino. The girl followed and found herself staring at a charred corpse tied to the base of a tree. The duo pulled their kunai from their pouches and warily crept towards the body. The copse of trees around the two shinobi seemed to push in around them and it was then that Ino was glad Asuma had had the foresight to let her borrow two of his kunai; she had used all of hers in the earlier fighting.

Ino hadn't realized it before, but the din of birds and animals had faded to make way for an eerie silence that covered the area like a thick blanket. She glanced to her left to see Asuma tiptoeing beside her, his face scrunched in concentration. When they were only a few steps away from the corpse, Asuma whispered in her ear, "Send out a pulse of chakra to make sure we're alone."

Ino did so and detected no living beings. However, when she told Asuma this, the man frowned. "Nothing at all? That shouldn't be. There is a village just over that ridge." He gestured to a point to the south.

"It could be that my sensing technique doesn't reach that far," Ino suggested. Asuma didn't say anything but continued to study the body.

"This isn't good…" Ino heard the man murmur to himself.

"What isn't good?" Ino questioned. Asuma flinched at the question, obviously not realizing Ino had heard his comment.

When Asuma gestured for her to come closer, Ino could smell the charred skin and felt bile roiling in her stomach. The body looked to have been tied to the tree before it was torched. Ino just hoped whoever it was hadn't been alive when the burning took place.

Asuma seemed to sense her thoughts. "The body has a deep slash across the neck, so it's safe to assume they were dead before being set ablaze. However…" He paused and wearily rubbed his eyes. "This body belonged to that of a small child."

* * *

The burnt body was only a precursor to what Ino and Asuma discovered when they crested over the ridge to stare down at the village below.

Or what was left of it.

The houses sprouted from the valley below like broken shells. They were arranged in a crescent around what appeared to once be the village center. It looked as though only two or three of the small houses survived the burning, their thatch, pointed roofs a stark contrast to the blackened remains of the buildings next to them.

Ino noted a sloped dirt path off to the left of the duo that wound its way from the ridge and gradually leveled out as it pierced the center of the village. Wordlessly, she and Asuma began the trek down the road, their feet scraping the earth below and kicking up little puffs of dirt.

As they did so, Ino let her eyes wander and noted the overcast sky, a sheet of cold slate that stretched forever in every direction. A rumble of thunder could be heard off in the distance, and she could feel Asuma staring up at the cloud cover as well.

"I see a storm sweeping in sometime soon," he responded to her unasked question.

Before they had even reached the outskirts of the village, the remains of a watchtower loomed ahead of the two shinobi. As they approached, it became clear that though it towered over them, it was a shade of its former self, with weeds sprouting from every crack in the stone base and lichen mottling each boulder like some blistering disease.

"This looks like the watchtower we stumbled upon on our way up to Ohira," Ino said. "What's one of our watchtowers doing in a small village like this?"

"It was once used as a listening post for our Anbu agents who spied on the Yugakure shinobi of days past." Asuma stared up at the tower, his cigarette lolling between his lips as he spoke. "The people of Hiezu, as the village is named, have been under the protection of Konoha for the past fifty years. Or at least it should be…"

Asuma didn't say more, but instead returned his attention to the road and trudged onwards, Ino on his heels.

* * *

The stench hit the duo before anything else. The sight came shortly afterwards.

The pile of corpses towered over Asuma and Ino, the wide-eyed and open mouthed faces staring out at them with baleful looks. Heads were impaled onto repurposed tree branches to the left and right of the mound, reaching towards the grey sky like twisted fingers.

The crows had fluttered and cawed upon their approach, but nothing was going to pull them away from their carrion. Flesh hung in strips off of many of the skulls, and more than one eyeball had been snipped from its socket.

When Ino noticed a crow pulling away flesh from a baby's skull, it was too much. She scuttled away and retched violently under the gaze of the villagers and even Asuma was forced to turn his back to the sight and compose himself.

Ino flinched when she felt a hand on her shoulder, but she didn't push it away. The hand pulled her around the corner of one of the houses and away from the sight, and Ino finally found her breath.

"Thanks, sensei."

"Take the time you need," came Asuma's response. "But we do need to examine the bodies and see if we can figure out what the hell happened here." Ino looked up to see her sensei's figure disappear around the corner.

When Ino straightened and was about to round the corner to rejoin her sensei, that ugly creature appeared again, peeking out at her from around the corner of an adjacent house with its beady eyes.

 _Grief_.

A memory came, unbidden, in which one of the faces of the dead villagers transformed into Shikamaru's lifeless face. Ino felt as though a knife had been twisted into her gut. The creature seemed to realize this, and its eyes glowed with baneful power.

 _It's all your fault._ The unearthly sound reverberated in her skull and Ino found herself cupping her ears with both hands to keep the sound away. The creature slid towards her, completely silent, and the statement of blame grew louder. When it only stood a few steps away from the girl, Ino closed her eyes.

 _It's all your—_

 _NO!_ Ino shouted. When she opened her eyes, the creature had disappeared, and Ino slowly lowered her hands to her sides. Taking a breath to compose herself, Ino was about to round the corner when she heard a call from Asuma. She found the Jounin crouched down, a metal forehead protector in his hands.

"I haven't seen a symbol like that before," Ino said, a quizzical look on her face.

Asuma scratched his cheek and turned the band every which way. Engraved into the metal was what looked to be an upright eighth note. The cloth was frayed and the plate wore dings and scrapes from countless battles.

"This is a new symbol to me as well," Asuma said. "It could be a new village, but from where I recovered this band, I would say it's a village we need to be wary of."

When Ino asked the Jounin what he meant, he turned away from the girl and looked uncomfortable before eventually meeting her blue eyes.

"Look, Ino, you are a shinobi, so you will undoubtedly run into something similar in the future. That is the only reason I am telling you."

He opened his mouth a couple of times before finding the right words. "I found this band clenched in the hands of a dead woman in the middle of that." He gestured vaguely at the mound of corpses. "Her fingernails were torn and bloodied and it appeared … she was raped repeatedly," Asuma finished quietly.

Ino froze. She was horrified, but through sheer effort of will, she managed to keep the emotion off of her face. All she could do was stare dumbly down at the forehead protector, but she could feel Asuma's gaze on her.

As she continued to inspect the forehead protector, a clap of thunder jolted her from her thoughts, and drops of rain began pattering against the metal band. Asuma and Ino turned from the corpses and found themselves staring as two figures approached from the road they came in on.

It became clear who the two figures were when they finally stepped forward close enough to be identified. One was the brown haired captain who had turned Chouji's innards to mush and the other was one of his subordinates.

The two pairs of shinobi stood a dozen paces from one another and didn't move.

"That your handy work?" Asuma jabbed his thumb at the pile of bodies behind them while simultaneously pulling out his trench knives.

* * *

A flash of light illuminated the gloom of the desolate village, highlighting the faces of the four shinobi as they stood ready at combat position, weapons drawn.

Both Ino and Asuma had noticed the captain's missing arm straight away. Ino also saw that the other shinobi wasn't wearing his mask; he was young, probably only a few years older than her. His eyes were slits as he shot her hateful glares.

"I, nor my subordinate here were part of this." It was the enemy Jounin who spoke, gesturing to the carnage behind the Konoha shinobi.

Asuma scoffed. "But you knew about it and didn't do anything."

The brown-haired man shrugged nonchalantly, but kept his eyes trained on Asuma. He was armed with a kunai, like Ino, while his subordinate wielded a short sword.

Ino felt Asuma's chakra spike at the man's flippant response, but the Sarutobi still didn't charge.

The raindrops that had started as a light drizzle were now coming down in sheets, and before long Ino's clothes were soaked. She ignored the added weight of her blouse, and instead inspected the shinobi's sword.

A realization hit her then. She remembered Shikamaru's wound, a deep diagonal slash from shoulder to hip. A wound like that was likely the result of a sword…

Ino felt a surge of anger and she directed it at the sword wielding shinobi and her chakra joined Asuma's.

Ino wasn't sure who initiated the fight, but when a bolt of lightning danced across the sky, she found herself weaving and avoiding a swarm of kunai and deflecting the rest.

She was sprinting headlong towards the boy when she heard Asuma next to her screaming in fury as he shot forward to engage the enemy leader. Suddenly, a conflagration was before her — a towering inferno looking to swallow her whole.

"Suiton: Teppodama," Ino said aloud, forming the necessary hand seal. A series of water globs shot from her mouth and met the fireball, earning a large cloud of steam that obstructed her vision.

 _Dammit, it wasn't powerful enough to break through_? Ino asked herself, dismayed.

Through the dull roar of the rain, Ino heard the crackle of an exploding tag, and a kunai pierced the white steam and came directly for her. The resulting explosion sent motes of mud and pieces of broken wood across the battlefield.

Ino peeked around the corner from her position behind one of the houses and looked at the shrapnel that littered the spot she had just stood. She smiled thinly before returning her attention back to her dwindling inventory.

 _One exploding tag, two kunai, and five shuriken. Fantastic._ Ino paused in her ruminations when she noticed the water pooling up and out of the ruts in the muddy road. An idea sprang to mind.

* * *

Daichi held his ninjato at the ready, looking for any sign of the blonde haired Konoha shinobi.

 _Where did she go?_

A sense of frustration came over him and he growled, sullenly kicking at the mud beneath him.

He could see Shinkaru off to his left battling the Sarutobi, and he had half a mind to join him. It was clear his captain was at a disadvantage with his missing arm, and with the jutsu both were throwing out, it was clear they weren't holding back. To punctuate his point, the air vibrated with one of Shinkaru's explosive punches, followed shortly by the blinding flames of a fire jutsu.

A sudden flurry of shuriken spinning his direction yanked him from his observations as Daichi was forced to roll out of the way. Globs of water immediately converged upon his position and Daichi found himself firing off his fire jutsu to neutralize the assault. As fire met water, the two mixed and the resulting steam burned his skin.

 _Enough of this_ , Daichi thought. _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu._ A puff of smoke revealed his copy, who nodded at him and burrowed into the mud after forming hand seals for his earth jutsu.

The shinobi serving under Orochimaru had been beneficiaries of more than just his protection. His smuggling operation for top-secret jutsu had been ongoing long before Daichi had joined under his banner. When he had learned of a copy of the shadow clone technique Orochimaru had pilfered from the village of Konoha, he took to it like a sponge. Although he could only form one clone, it was infinitely helpful and took opponents off guard.

Soft footfalls behind him tipped Daichi off to the young kunoichi, and he spun his blade to meet the girl's kunai. The two stared into each other's eyes, and the girl snarled as she pushed against his sword.

He attempted a leg sweep and the girl jumped to avoid it, directly in the path of his intended side slash. Instead of readying herself to parry his attack like he expected, her fingers flashed and water bullets shot directly at his chest. He coughed blood when the first hit him in the chest, but he flipped away and managed to avoid the rest.

He locked gazes with the girl and said _Now!_ A pair of hands shot from the ground and pulled her chest deep into the mud, her eyes going wide at the attack.

 _Hah! Take that you bitch!_ Daichi thought as he gingerly rubbed his chest where her attack had struck. It had felt like being punched in the chest with a mailed glove and did nothing to improve his already foul mood.

While the girl struggled furiously to free herself, Daichi approached with his sword drawn.

"Karma can really be a bitch, can't it?" Daichi asked the girl contemptuously. He narrowed his eyes when images of his dead teammates flooded his memories. _For their vengeance._ "Die. Just like your black haired friend." He raised his sword to smite her down.

* * *

 _He DID kill Shikamaru!_

Ino was trapped underneath the mud and couldn't move, but the revelation filled her with an unspeakable rage. The older boy was bringing his sword down upon her, but Ino felt no fear. No, she wanted nothing more than to destroy him for taking away one of her best friends.

"Shintenshin no Jutsu."

She locked eyes with the boy and her chakra spiked, fed by her anger, but the jutsu didn't come out as intended. Instead of a beam, it shot forward as a tendril of thought.

In her mind, Ino felt a strange resistance press against her consciousness, but her anger swept it aside and she plunged forward into a swirling darkness. Her mind pierced the blackness like a thin beam of light in a dark room, and she only vaguely recognized the screams of agony from the older boy as she invaded his mind.

Memories came to her. But they weren't hers.

A shinobi wearing the browns of Sunagakure approached a small boy and put his hands on the boy's shoulders to offer words of condolence.

Before Ino's eyes, the scene changed until she was standing in the center of a cemetery. Several dozen people in the blacks of mourning stood a distance away from the same young boy. The boy cried out as he watched two coffins get lowered into the ground.

The scene changed again. This time, the boy laughed and embraced an older woman as a man looked on with a warm smile etched on his face. Ino's fury surged and a voice whispered seductively in her mind.

 _Destroy them. Destroy them all._

And she did. She took the happy memories and twisted them until they were unrecognizable. The older boy's fondest memories were warped into nightmares, and no matter the amount of screaming she heard, she continued to alter one after another.

Finally, a clap of thunder broke her concentration, and she was immediately vaulted from the older boy's mind. When Ino returned, she opened her eyes to discover the older boy writhing in the mud, moaning incoherently.

Ino then noticed she no longer felt the pull on her legs that made escaping so impossible before. With an effort, she yanked her right arm free from the mire, then her left, and before long she was standing upright once more. The older boy had stopped his moaning and lay several paces away, peering at her with a wild and untamed look.

"What did you do to me?" he demanded. "My memories! I can't remember them anymore without…" He didn't continue. Instead, he stood and drew his blade. "This time you die," was all he said, in a tone dripping with venom.

Ino armed herself with her last remaining kunai and the two sprinted forward in a gadarene rush to destroy one another.

Sparks flew from the blows of their bladed weapons and mud flew around the duo. Lightning flashed across the sky accompanied by the boom of thunder. Ino thrust forward with her kunai, but the older boy twisted and then spun his blade to take off her head. She ducked and slashed at the boy's hand, drawing blood. He cried out in pain and dropped his weapon, but before she could capitalize she took a metal studded gauntlet to the face, and she saw stars.

She heard him growling as he charged at her, his right arm seeped in blood and his eyes wild with fury. He jabbed at her and she dodged, but not before he reached out, grabbed her wrist, and twisted the kunai from her hand. She turned and unleashed a backwards kick that nailed him in the side of the head and sent him flying.

She was upon him in a heartbeat, beating his face in and wrapping her hands around his throat to choke the life right out of him. Her hands were wet from the torrential downpour and she felt them trying to slip away more than once, but she held on. A couple of seconds seemed like an eternity as the older boy thrashed about, and in a last desperate claw at life, he head-butted her. She was nearly left unconscious by the attack, but she still held on.

Finally, with one last gasp from the boy, he went still.

Ino stood and tottered as lightheadedness took ahold, but she managed to stay afoot. She only gave a cursory glance to the older boy as she began her search for his sword. Elsewhere, she heard the sounds of battle from both Asuma and the enemy Jounin abruptly cease.

She absently sensed Asuma approaching her when a flash of lightning illuminated the sky and a gleam of steel caught her attention. Ino pulled the weapon from the muck and returned to her defeated enemy. She felt a hand on her shoulder as she stared down at the corpse.

"What happened to the leader?"

"He fled. You doing okay?"

Ino didn't want to answer, and it seemed as though Asuma understood why because he didn't push for an answer. A sudden compulsion hit the girl, though, and she found herself bending over, unclipping, and pulling the older boy's beige flack jacket off of his body before donning it herself. His wrist guards went on where her warmers had once been. Ino then sheathed the blade in the horizontal scabbard that lay across the back of the jacket before letting her hands fall to her sides.

Asuma didn't say anything the entire time, but was simply apt to watching her until she was done. "You ready to go home?" he asked her.

Ino let out a weary sigh. "More than anything."

* * *

Jutsu list:

Suiton: Teppodama - Water style: Gunshot

Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu: Earth style: Hiding Mole

Shintenshin no Jutsu: Mind Body Switch Technique


End file.
